Rockwall ISD Gets S&P Lift

Standard & Poor’s has raised the issuer and underlying rating on the Rockwall Independent School District to AA from AA-minus, as it prepares to issue $15.5 million of general obligation bonds.

The upgrade is based on the Dallas-area district’s economic expansion and ability to maintain strong reserve levels, analysts wrote. The outlook is stable.

Very strong wealth and income levels and a sound financial position, including the maintenance of strong reserves, support the upgrade, the analysts wrote.

Moody’s affirmed its Aa2 underlying rating on the district, while noting that the upcoming issue will carry triple-A ratings through a guarantee by the Texas Permanent School Fund. The PSF was sidelined by capacity limits last year but is again securing new debt under an Internal Revenue Service ruling that doubled the fund’s capacity for guarantees.

With 13,843 students, Rockwall ISD is 20 miles east of downtown Dallas in Rockwall County. It has a taxable assessed property value of $5.9 billion and its tax base averages out to $84,698 per capita.

With this latest deal, the district will have $356 million of outstanding debt.

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