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.

S&P revised the outlook on Miami Beach to stable from negative and affirmed the AA-minus rating on the city’s resort tax revenue bonds.

The upgrade to A-minus from BBB-plus "reflects what we view as material improvement in the state's structural deficit and near-term liquidity," S&P said.

Nora Wittstruck, senior director and environmental social and governance sector lead at S&P Global Ratings, talks with Chip Barnett about climate change, sea level rise and how municipalities’ mitigation efforts affect South Florida and other parts of the U.S. (19 minutes)

Fitch said it expects UT to maintain a strong operating performance that could warrant an upgrade in the next two years.

Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. and Assured Guaranty Corp. both resolved their exposure to its insured Puerto Rico debts leading to the upgrade to A1.

Barkley hopes to get members back to educational events in person as well as adding younger members to the NFMA roster.

Moody's rewarded Detroit's strides in keeping its books balanced and building reserves with an upgrade that leaves it two notches below investment grade.

Fitch also affirmed the city’s AA-minus general obligation bond and issuer default ratings.

Despite competitive and demographic headwinds, Villanova's strong academic reputation as a selective private university will support student demand, Moody’s said.

Price has deep experience at the SEC, and Abonamah was once a top presence in the muni office.