LOS ANGELES — The Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority in Washington received a negative outlook from Standard & Poor's on its outstanding "parity" lien obligations, but retained its AAA rating in a report released Dec. 30.
The outlook revision from stable to negative "reflects our view of Sound Transit's forecast parity-lien debt issuance plans during 2015 and 2016 to support a period of increased capital spending during the next 10 years," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Chris Morgan.
It further "reflects our view of the potential that this could significantly dilute debt service coverage at this lien position," Morgan said.
S&P also assigned an A-minus long-term rating to Sound Transit's $1.33 billion Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan and affirmed a AAA long-term rating on Sound Transit's outstanding "prior" lien obligations with a stable outlook.
The authority serves 50 cities and more than 40% of Washington's population. Link Light rail ridership has increased in double-digit percentages every year since the since opened in 2009, according to a Dec. 19 release from the transit authority.
The transit authority's board approved plans to start work on a tax ballot measure at its December 18 meeting, during which it also approved updates to its long-range plan, according to the release.
"Our long-range plan creates the vision for the high-capacity transit needed to increase mobility in the Puget Sound region," said Sound Transit Board Chair and King County Executive Dow Constantine in the release.
