A rule of thumb for investors is that bonds are generally considered a low-risk investment because governments rarely default on their loans. And financial advisers often make the case for plugging some money into bonds in case the economy goes sour and the stock market doesn't perform.

If you look at a graph of the average bond interest rate over the past year, you see that it tracks fairly closely with the 10-year treasury bill, a way of investing in the federal government. Usually, when the treasury bill is up, bonds are down and vice versa.

Right now, revenue bonds are estimated to return about 6 percent, a rate that hasn't been seen since 2000. That higher rate means cities pay a higher interest rate.

"A rational investor would look at this and say, 'I'm buying municipals all day long,"' Lewis said.

But because investors are skittish right now, there is a municipal bond backlog of $18 billion to $19 billion nationwide, Lewis said.

That might make it difficult for cities that are starting the bonding process now, such as West Bountiful, Centerville and South Jordan.

Conservative state

Overall, Utah and its municipalities have benefited from conservative spending and a strong economy, said bond attorney James C. Burr.

"The bond market here in Utah has always functioned very well," Burr said. "There has been a lot of financial prudence. ... Cities we've worked with have only issued bonds for projects that need to be financed and that the electorate is willing to support."

Lewis, who often travels to San Francisco with clients to meet with rating agencies, echoes Burr's assessment.

Utah cities don't have the liabilities, such as post-employment benefits, other U.S. cities have, and manage to conservatively plan for the future.

When Lewis talks with analysts after her meetings, she hears, almost without fail, how easy it is to work with Utah cities.

"Utah credits are the easiest ones to rate," she hears.

Analysts see the best of the best and the worst of the worst, and on the whole, Utah cities are conservative with their debt management, she said.

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Contributing: Ethan Thomas, Rodger L. Hardy, Arthur Raymond, Jens Dana and James Davis

E-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com; jdougherty@desnews.com; jpage@desnews.com