The James City Service Authority has secured another bond rating upgrade, this time from the Moody’s Investors Service.
Moody’s assigned an “Aa1” rating to the JCSA’s Series 2016 water and sewer system revenue refunding bonds and upgraded the system’s outstanding parity revenue bonds from “Aa2” to “Aa1.”
The “Aa1” rating is the second highest rating possible from Moody’s, just below an “Aaa” rating. The “Aa1” rating is awarded to high quality investments with very low credit risk.
“The bond rating upgrade from Moody’s confirms the sound fiscal management policies and practices in place at the JCSA,” said Kevin Onizuk, chairman of the JCSA Board of Directors, in a statement. “This second rating upgrade will assure investors of our financial strength when we move forward with the restructuring of our debts saving millions for JCSA customers and JCC citizens.”
The JCSA also earned rating upgrades from financial services company Standard & Poor’s last month. The water and sewer system revenue debt rating improved from “AA+” to “AAA” and a “AAA” rating was assigned to the JCSA Series 2016 water and sewer system revenue bonds.
High bond ratings can allow the Authority to refinance or issue revenue bonds at a lower interest rate, according to a release from James City County.
JCSA customers could see changes to their water and sewer costs in fiscal 2017 if the proposed budget is approved in May. The additional revenue would go toward the reserve fund, CIP and operating budget of the JCSA.
Related Coverage
