Atascadero’s credit rating raised from ‘AA+’ to ‘AAA’
‘This is great news for the City of Atascadero,’ said Mayor Heather Moreno
– The City of Atascadero has announced that Fitch Ratings have raised the credit rating on Atascadero Community Development Agency’s (Atascadero Redevelopment Project) 2004 Tax Allocation Bonds (TABs) from “AA+” to “AAA.”
“The upgrades reflect strengthened resilience due to growth in pledged revenues and closed liens given the dissolution of RDAs in 2011,” Fitch reported, “In addition, Fitch expects solid to strong revenue growth as assessed valuations (AV) and related tax increment increase due to appreciation, new development and/or property turnover resetting the AV to market value.”
According to Fitch, the key rating drivers impacting the rate change are pledged revenue growth, exceptionally strong resiliency, closed lien status due to redevelopment agency dissolution, tempered with moderate taxpayer concentration.
“Pledged tax revenues have increased above U.S. GDP and inflation at a 10-year CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 6.8%, supporting a ‘AAA’ assessment for growth prospects of pledged revenues,” Fitch reports, “Fitch further indicates that the top 10 taxpayers are moderately concentrated and account for 17% of IV [incremental value]. This asymmetric risk is offset with the highly resilient structure and strong revenue growth prospects, supporting the overall ‘AAA’ rating.”
“This is great news for the City of Atascadero,” said Mayor Heather Moreno, “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.”
For more information on the Fitch Ratings for Atascadero, click here. For information on city administrative services, go to www.atascadero.org/
