Standard & Poor’s upgraded its underlying rating on the Santa Paula Union High School District in Ventura County to AA-minus from A ahead of an $8 million general obligation sale.
“The raised ratings reflect our view of the district’s ongoing strong financial operations and maintenance of a very strong unreserved fund balance,” Standard & Poor’s analyst Bryan Moore said in a release Wednesday.
The district’s reserves totaled 71.2% of expenditures at the end fiscal 2009, including a special reserve fund of $6.9 million intended to fund construction of a new high school. The general fund is forecast to finish fiscal 2010 with a 24.3% unreserved fund balance.
The upcoming bond issue is the first of $39 million of GOs voters approved last November. Standard & Poor’s said the district’s debt is “low” at 1.4% of assessed value.
The district is located about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles and includes the city of Santa Paula. Its economy has traditionally been dominated by agriculture but it has become increasingly suburban rather than rural in recent years, the agency said.
Average wealth levels are 103% of the national average, but the area’s unemployment rate was significantly higher than the state or national averages at 17.9% in September.
