Bond ratings

The amount of outstanding variable rate demand bonds rose to $142.4 billion in the second quarter of this year, a gain over $142.2 billion in the first quarter and the end of a decade-long decline, Moody’s Investor Service said in a recent report.

The competitive GO deal will feature five- or eight-year calls.

Fitch Ratings upgraded the city's issuer default rating to AA-minus from A-plus.

The Ohio Market Access Program is designed to lower local governments' costs when issuing short-term notes.

The outlook revision reflects the district’s “progress towards structural balance," Fitch Ratings said.

More than $60 million in new debt Owensboro Municipal Utilities could issue this month to pay for the expansion of its William Cavin Water Treatment Plant would have no effect on the city's credit.

Citizens Energy Group's water enterprise earned upgrades by the three major rating agencies.

Though fires wreak havoc causing property damage and loss of life, the hit to local economies — and their bonds — tends to be ameliorated by state and federal funding.

San Antonio has weathered a decade of stress on the federal funding and energy fronts.

Kroll says the use of rating ceilings can "subvert fundamental credit analysis."