Pittsburgh to Save Through Refunding

Pittsburgh stands to realize $3.2 million, or 5%, present-value savings from its expected $63.3 million refunding scheduled for Oct. 22, according to city finance director Paul Leger.

The western Pennsylvania city that day expects to advance refund the city's 2005A and 2006C bonds. PNC Capital Markets is the lead manager. Huntington Investments is the financial advisor.

The City Council earlier this month approved legislation to refinance the bonds.

Moody's Investors Service rates the bonds A1 with an outlook that it revised in August to positive from stable.

In January, Standard & Poor's raised Pittsburgh GOs to A-plus from A, marking the city's 11th upgrade in a decade-long climb from junk status. Fitch Ratings assigns its A rating. S&P and Fitch both have stable outlooks.

Officials in Pittsburgh, one of 21 Pennsylvania communities in the Act 47 workout program for distressed communities, are negotiating a long-term agreement for payments in lieu of taxes from the city's major nonprofit organizations, including University of Pittsburgh and its medical center; and Duquesne and Carnegie-Mellon universities.

"Pittsburgh can be marked as a success for Act 47, although the city remains in the program despite having the tools, in our view, to maintain stable credit quality without it," Fitch said in a report.

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