Atascadero’s credit rating raised from ‘AA’ to ‘AA+’
Upgrade reflects ‘improvement in growth prospects for revenues, financial resilience’
– The City of Atascadero has announced that Fitch Ratings has raised the credit rating on Atascadero Community Development Agency’s (Atascadero Redevelopment Project) 2004 Tax Allocation Bonds from ‘AA’ to ‘AA+’.
Fitch Reported, “The upgrade of the TABs to ‘AA+’ reflects improvement in growth prospects for revenues and financial resilience. Fitch assumes similarly strong revenue growth given continued growth in the redevelopment area and the tax base.”
According to Fitch, the key drivers impacting the rate change were continued expected revenue growth, the agency’s strong reliance to downturn, and the fact that no new debt can be issued, all tempered with moderate taxpayer concentration.
Fitch reports, “The city’s employment trends remain positive with unemployment below the state’s and national levels… The top 10 taxpayers comprise of 13% of TAV [taxable assessed value] and 19% of IV [incremental value], including commercial centers, a hotel and multi-tenant shopping centers.” The rating also speaks to the city’s thoughtful planning, good use of the city’s resources and to the strength of our finance team to keep us moving in the right direction.
“This is great news for the City of Atascadero. It is our council’s commitment to fiscal stewardship and city staff’s follow-through on our strategic priorities that contribute to long-term financial stability,” said Mayor Heather Moreno.
For more information on the Fitch Ratings for Atascadero, click here for the published press release, or for information about city administrative services, go to www.atascadero.org/adminservices.
