Annapolis, MD (12-1-16) Moody’s Investors Service has given Annapolis its second upgrade in the past two years.
This week, Moody’s assigned an Aa2 positive rating to Annapolis’ $13.8 million General Obligation Public Improvements and Refunding Bonds Series 2016A and $30.7 million General Obligation Public Improvements Taxable Refunding Bonds Series 2016B.
Concurrently, Moody’s has confirmed the Aa2 positive rating on the city’s $117 million of General Obligation debt outstanding.
According to Moody’s, the Aa2 rating reflects the city’s recently improved financial position supported by proactive management and conservative budgeting, despite a planned reduction in reserves. The rating also reflects the city’s sizable and diverse tax base with institutional presence, above average demographic profile, and manageable debt burden.
“I am pleased that our ongoing efforts to remain fiscally prudent, while providing quality services, were acknowledged by Moody’s,” Mayor Pantelides said. “The agency gave us a vote of confidence by raising our outlook from stable to positive, which supports our efforts to strengthen the city’s financial position.
Moody’s wrote: “The positive outlook reflects expectations that the city’s financial position will remain strong despite the potential use of reserves to eliminate enterprise fund deficits from the balance sheet. The outlook further reflects continued stability and expected modest growth in the tax base.”
Moody’s characterizes the city’s strengths as having:
· Large tax base anchored by public sector presence
· Above average wealth levels
· Healthy reserve and cash position
The city is going to market on December 6 and the current rating may provide more demand due to market confidence, as well as a lower interest rate. The other two bond rating agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, are expected to release their ratings in the next few days.
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