Standard & Poor's raising city bond ratings
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has raised its rating on Greensboro's water and sewer bonds to AAA from AA+, basing on continuing financial strength and capacity expansions of the utilities. The rating change impacts approximately $30.3 million of existing debt.
"From a capacity and operational standpoint, both the water system and the sanitary system have performed well and are positioned to handle additional growth and development," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Colin MacNaught said in a news release.
"We expect that Greensboro will maintain strong debt service coverage and high liquidity levels in the future while addressing further capital projects," he added.
City water and sewer customer bases have been growing, respectively, at an average annual rate of 1.5 percent and 1.6 percent since 2002, the ratings service reported. City water supplies will be adequate for the next three years, at which point the Randleman Dam project, with its planned water-treatment plant, should provide any additional water and sewer services necessary.
Standard & Poor's also assigned an AAA rating and a stable outlook to the city's nearly $37.9 million series A combined enterprise system revenue bonds.