health facilities; bonding
authority
The Authority was established in 1977 to issue tax-exempt bonds in order to finance health facilities or related projects with the intent of providing less expensive financing for health care facilities. Typically, the financing provided by the Authority is utilized in order to equip, renovate or build health facilities. Last year the Authority financed projects for Phoenix’s Children Hospital, Tucson Medical Center, Hacienda de Angeles, Northern Arizona Health Care, White Mountains Hospital, and Community Health Care of Douglas. The Authority’s bonds are payable soley from payments made by the benefited health care providers and are not liabilities for either the state or the Authority. All costs and expenses related to the issuance of bonds are paid from bond proceeds, leases or other revenues of the Authority.
Current law does not allow the Authority to provide funding for multi-state entities or to for-profit entities. Due to the increasing number of both multi-state healthcare organizations and for-profits, the Authority is seeking the ability to finance projects for both of these entities. Currently the authority is unable to accept grants from any agencies other than those that are federal. SB 1087 allows the authority to fund multi-state projects and for-profits provided the funded projects are either for or headquartered in Arizona. SB 1087 also allows the Authority to accept grants from state, county or municipal agencies.