Bond ratings

The acquisition of Cancer Treatment Centers of America in February was cited for the downgrade along with City of Hope's financial weakness over the past two years.

Moody’s Investors Service raised the city's rating, noting noted a trend of strong finances, a diverse economy and a willingness to tackle pension issues.

Governance is the single most important ESG factor in public finance ratings, given the impact of governance structure, Fitch said.

Audit times for municipal bond issuers are on the rise, with the median reaching 164 days in 2020 compared with 147 in 2009.

Michael Rinaldi, head of local government ratings at Fitch, talks with Chip Barnett about the murky financial picture after the move by Gov. Ron DeSantis to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District after Disney Co. said it plans to fight to repeal the new “Don’t Say Gay” law. (12 minutes)

While the outlook revision reflects the view there is a one-in-three chance RCID's credit profile could be positively or negatively impacted, future events remain unclear, said S&P's Christian Richards.

Credits affected include $766 million of outstanding ad valorem tax bonds, rated AA-minus and $79 million of outstanding utilities revenue and refunding bonds, rated A.

The budget represents a turn-around as the county got a handle on pandemic-related expenses.

Phoenix’s ratings were affirmed and its general obligation bond outlook was raised to stable from negative by Moody's.

Using a surplus to build reserve levels was key for the outlook change, the rating agency said.