Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it raised its rating on Monroe County, Mich.'s (Monroe County Board of County Road Commissioners), series 2005 limited-tax general obligation Michigan Transportation Fund (MTF) bonds and series 2008 MTF notes to AAA from AA.
The outlook is stable.
"The upgrade is based on extremely strong debt service coverage," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Blake E. Yocom. "The rating on the series 2005 bonds reflects the stronger pledge of MTF revenues and is rated under Standard & Poor's special tax bonds criteria."
The rating reflects the agency's view of statewide collection of pledged revenues distributed to the county; stable trend of gas and weight tax receipts; and expectation of limited additional future debt needs combined with strong protections against debt dilution that it believes will contribute to the county's maintenance of extremely strong maximum annual debt service coverage.
The 2005 MTF bonds and 2008 MTF notes are secured by a first-lien pledge of state-collected annual gas and weight taxes returned to the county from the MTF for highway and road purposes, pursuant to Act 51, as amended. As additional security, the county has pledged its limited-tax GO to the series 2005 bonds.
