Credit Rating
Victoria Upgraded to AAA
August 2018 - Standard & Poor's (S&P) Global Ratings raised its rating to AAA
from
August 2018 - Standard & Poor's (S&P) Global Ratings raised its rating to AAA
from AA+
on the City of Victoria's existing general obligation (GO) debt, and raised its rating to AA+
from AA
on the Victoria Economic Development Authority's series 2014A lease revenue and limited-tax bonds, issued for the city. At the same time, they assigned our AAA
long-term rating to the city's series 2018A GO bonds. The outlook is stable.
AA+
on the City of Victoria's existing general obligation (GO) debt, and raised its rating to AA+
from AA
on the Victoria Economic Development Authority's series 2014A lease revenue and limited-tax bonds, issued for the city. At the same time, they assigned our AAA
long-term rating to the city's series 2018A GO bonds. The outlook is stable.
The raised ratings reflect the city's strong budgetary performance, very strong reserve levels, and very strong economy with an extremely strong market value per capita and very strong incomes, supported by very strong management policies and practices. The AAA
rating will result in lower interest rates when the city issues general obligation bonds, which are issued for projects such as street reconstruction.
The report cites the following factors in its assessment of the city's ratings.
- Very strong economy
- Very strong management
- Strong budgetary performance
- Very strong budgetary flexibility
- Very strong liquidity
- Weak debt and contingent liability profile
We view the city's management as very strong, with strong financial policies and practices under our FMA (Financial Management Assessment) methodology, indicating financial practices are strong, well embedded, and likely sustainable,
the report states. The ratings report concluded with a finding of a stable outlook and no expectation of change within the next two years.
A AAA
credit rating is the highest credit rating available from S&P. As of July 2018, only 24 Minnesota cities have achieved this rating.