(Raleigh, N.C.) – CaroMont Health Inc. received an important approval this week to move forward with its plan to build and equip a four-story patient hospital care tower in Gastonia.
The action was one of 13 items approved by the Local Government Commission (LGC) totaling more than $300 million worth of school, park, municipal building and infrastructure projects spanning 11 counties across the state. Click here for the full agenda.
The LGC, chaired by State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, and staffed by Department of State Treasurer personnel, on Tuesday approved CaroMont’s request to obtain up to $135 million in revenue bonds payable over 30 years to build the 146,000-square-foot tower atop the current two-story southeast expansion.
The new hospital facilities will house 78 private critical care and intermediate care patient rooms on the CaroMont Regional Medical Center campus. The hospital is a nonprofit general and acute care facility with a multi-county service area.
The 6th floor will consolidate all cardiac intensive care nursing units. The 5th floor will consolidate all intensive care nursing units. The 4th floor will be a post-intensive care unit, and the 3rd floor will be shell space reserved for future growth.
Pricing of the bonds is set for Jan. 20, and final maturity of the bonds is not to exceed Feb. 1, 2051.
The LGC also approved the following financing items:
- City of Greensboro, $37 million in limited obligation bonds for acquisition of land, design and construction of a downtown parking garage at February One Place to alleviate traffic congestion and assist revitalization of the business district. No tax increase is expected.
- Dare County, $32.5 million in limited obligation bonds for multiple capital projects at county facilities. No tax increase is required.
- Henderson County, $25 million in limited obligation bonds to renovate and expand the Patton Building, and expand a police training facility. Both are on the Blue Ridge Community College campus. No tax increase is expected.
- Town of Pineville (Mecklenburg County), $21 million to build a new town hall and library, and to relocate telephone/internet infrastructure. No tax increase is expected.
- Town of Waynesville (Haywood County), $19.5 million for sewer system improvements. Future revenues will pay the cost.
- Town of Hope Mills (Cumberland County), $14.3 million to build a public safety center to replace existing police and fire facilities that are too small. No tax increase is expected.
- City of Kannapolis (Cabarrus and Rowan counties), $11.7 million for water and sewer infrastructure.
- Town of Highlands (Macon County), $8.5 million to construct a fire and rescue building to aid the transition to a 24-hour fire service. No tax increase is anticipated.
- Haywood County, nearly $8.4 million to build a 16,000-square-foot building on the Haywood Community College main campus to accommodate the nursing program. Sales taxes will pay the debt. Another $2.8 million in Connect NC Bond money is expected to be used for the project. The county also is refunding old debt at a lower interest rate for a savings of $119,741.
- Bessemer City (Gaston County), nearly $7.9 million for construction of Stinger Park. No tax increase is anticipated.
- Town of Atlantic Beach (Carteret County), $7 million to build a public safety and administrative complex. No tax increase is expected.
- Alleghany County Board of Education, nearly $2.1 million to install energy-conservation measures at school facilities. Estimated energy cost savings of about $2.4 million will cover the debt service.
The LGC also approved a request from Taylortown for a $963,000 revenue bond to improve, renovate and replace portions of the town’s water and sewer facilities. Although LGC staff had issued the Moore County town a unit letter over concerns regarding its fiscal year 2020 audited financial statements, the town provided a detailed and thorough response addressing the concerns, both in writing to LGC staff and to the commission at the meeting.
Town officials also explained the need for and benefit of the bond in improving the water and sewer system, thereby remedying some of the financial issues that led to the concerns outlined in the unit letter. LGC members noted their appreciation for the information and answers presented by the town and voted unanimously to approve the request.
The LGC delayed a vote on three Viable Utility Grant applications until February. If approved, Kingstown, Cliffside Sanitary District and Bethel would be the first non-emergency operating grants considered for funding from the $9 million Viable Utility Reserve Fund created by the General Assembly. The legislative initiative is designed to identify local government utility systems that are distressed, and award grants to conduct rate studies, asset inventories and assessments. Grants also may be awarded to study potential mergers and regionalization of services.
The Local Government Commission monitors more than 1,300 units of local government and must approve borrowing by those entities as well as by state government. For more information click here.