Bonds put Provo project on target

PROVO — It's final. Armed with a raft of incentives from Provo, Action Target has agreed to become the first company to build in the city's ambitious new 200-acre Mountain Vista Business Center.

Now Provo is poised to help finance construction of Action Target's 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, where it will build the shooting-range equipment it sells to the military and police departments.

The City Council is scheduled to consider a resolution Tuesday night announcing Provo's intent to issue $9 million in tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the company.

Before Provo can issue the bonds, Action Target must get approval from the state. Federal law caps the amount of tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds issued in Utah each year. This year, Utah's cap is nearly $31 million, said Roxanne Graham, program manager of the Utah Private Activity Bond Board.

The bond board determines only whether a company's application should be approved. It doesn't provide the funding. Action Target has lined up a buyer for the bonds, Provo City Finance Director John Borget said. The city would be lending its tax-exempt status to Action Target and would not have any obligation to repay the bonds if the company fails to do so. The city's credit rating also would not be at risk.

Two Provo leaders own land in the area. Mayor Lewis Billings placed the 10.85 acres he owns in the business park in a blind trust when he became mayor. In Provo's form of government, he has no vote on the matter. His staff presented the proposal to the City Council this week, and Billings helped explain the process to the council.

Billings has insisted he has no conflict of interest in Mountain Vista issues because his land is in a blind trust and he has no control over it.

City Council member Steve Turley owns six acres in Springville immediately south of the Mountain Vista Business Center. He does not believe he has a conflict of interest in the bond issue but recused himself from the council's discussion. He said he is actively marketing the property he has owned for seven months.

Action Target and Provo leaders want the City Council to pass the intent resolution Tuesday so the company can meet a Dec. 3 deadline. That is the day applications are due for the January meeting of the bond board.

Provo gave Action Target a number of incentives to uproot its operations in west-central Provo and jump-start the Mountain Vista project:

• Provo bought the company's land for $2.65 million.