Moody's has upgraded Jersey City, NJ's rating one notch from A1 to Aa3, with a stable outlook. The upgrade affects approximately $761 million in general obligation (GO) and guaranteed debt. Aa3 is Moody's fourth-highest rating. The upgrade reflects Jersey City's rapidly growing, large and diverse tax base, satisfactory and improving finances, and manageable debt burden. The tax base growth will generate a substantial amount of annual revenues as the city faces rising fixed costs.
Concurrently, Moody's has also upgraded one notch from Baa1 to A3 the city's Municipal Qualified Bonds Act (MQBA) enhanced debt, which retains its negative outlook.The A3 enhanced rating reflects the enhancement provided by the Municipal Qualified Bonds Act (MQBA) state aid intercept program and is notched once off the State of New Jersey's rating (A2 negative).
