BRADENTON, Fla. — Moody’s Investors Service Tuesday downgraded Atlanta’s general obligation bond rating to A1 from Aa3 and assigned a negative outlook.
Moody’s cited the city’s diminished financial position, a prolonged trend of structural imbalance, and the indefinite resolution of problems related to deficits in some operating funds as reasons for the downgrade.
On March 6, Standard & Poor’s lowered Atlanta’s GO rating to A from AA-minus, citing similar problems as well as concern about longer-term pressures associated with the city’s underfunded pensions.
The rating downgrades come as Atlanta prepares to refund approximately $80 million of GO bonds
