DALLAS — The town of Oak Ridge North received a five-notch upgrade to AA-minus from BBB from Standard & Poor’s due to its expanding economy and strong financial performance.
Analyst Jim Tchou said the city’s financial management and “ongoing economic growth, which has led to very high income levels” prompted the upgrade.
Located about 30 miles north of downtown Houston on the east side of Interstate 45, Oak Ridge North is a master-planned community that’s nearly built out. On the other side of I-45 sits the Woodlands, one of the first master-planned communities in the county that’s now home to nearly 75,000 residents.
At nearly 3,600, the current population of Oak Ridge North is up more than 20% since the 2000 Census and approaching build out, according to analysts.
“While other parts of the country may not be doing so well right now, our neighborhood is doing real well,” city manager Paul Mendes said. “We have a 64-acre business park on the east side of town underway and overall the whole region is just doing super.”
He said Oak Ridge North doesn’t plan to issue any debt this year and will complete some upgrades to the sewer system with available funds.
Mendes said the city has $7 million in reserves and about $4.5 million of debt outstanding. The city hasn’t issued new-money bonds in about 15 years, and refunded its Series 1993 bonds about 11 years ago, according to Mendes.
Standard & Poor’s said the outlook is stable and the town’s “assessed valuation should continue to grow steadily because of the development of a business park that can accommodate light-industrial and service-supported businesses.”
Oak Ridge North’s assessed value rose almost 50% the past five years to $182 million for fiscal 2007, according to analysts.
The Oak Ridge North subdivision began in 1966 and was incorporated into a town in 1979.
Mendes said the town was a rural area served by a municipal utility district and the county sheriff’s department back then, and residents incorporated into a city, in part, to have their own police department.
He said officials are currently negotiating with Houston regarding the release of some extra-territorial jurisdiction to the south of town, 90% of which is businesses, according to Mendes.
Oak Ridge North is in southern Montgomery County just north of the border with Harris County.
In November, Standard & Poor’s raised its underlying rating on Montgomery County to AA-minus from A-plus based on the continued tax-base expansion and strong budget controls of the rapidly-growing suburban county.
The county’s population of nearly 400,000 is up about 36% since 2000. Meanwhile Harris County has added nearly 500,000 new residents this decade and now has a population of roughly 3.9 million.
