Fitch Affirms 'A-' Rtg on DeYoung Museum, CA; Outlook Revised to Positive.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Fitch affirms its 'A-' rating on the ABAG ABAG Association of Bay Area Governments ABAG Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral (Brazilian Association of General Aviation; São Paulo, Brazil) ABAG Antigua & Barbuda Association of Georgia Finance Authority for Nonprofit Corporations revenue bonds, series 2002A and 2002B (New de Young Museum Project) auction rate securities in the aggregate amount of $143,000,000. The Rating Outlook is revised to Positive from Stable. Bond proceeds were used to fund a portion of the costs of the demolition and reconstruction of the New de Young Museum (de Young Museum) located in Golden Gate Park This article is about the park in San Francisco. For the US National Recreation Area just north of there, see Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park. At 1017 acres (4.1 km², 1. in San Francisco. The new museum opened in October 2005. The de Young Museum and the Palace of Legion of Honor Legion of Honor: see decorations, civil and military. are collectively known as the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco and one of the largest art museums in California. (the Museums) and are managed by the Board of Trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors. of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, a board of the City and County of San Francisco (the city). The bonds are joint and several obligations of the Fine Arts Museums Foundation (the Foundation) whose primary function is fundraising for the museums, and the Corporation of Fine Arts Museums (the Corporation) whose primary function is to operate the Museums. Security for the bonds excludes the art collection and restricted assets. The 'A-' rating is supported primarily by the financial strength provided by the successful completion of a major fundraising campaign. The campaign goal was $165 million and funds actually raised were $189.4 million including $22 million of pledges. The success of the campaign can be attributed to the strong reputation of the museums, a well executed plan for soliciting donations and the new de Young museum opening in October 2005. The revision in Rating Outlook is based on better than expected attendance at the new de Young. Attendance was originally budgeted at 620,000 for fiscal 2006; however, the actual attendance was 1,046,014. While attendance is expected to level off as initial curiosity about the new building subsides, Fitch believes that the level will be higher than historical levels. The increased attendance should have a positive impact on ticket sales, membership revenues, and future fundraising. For fiscal 2005, available funds of $187.2 million would cover slightly over 7.5 years of operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. and exceed the amount of outstanding debt by 1.3 times (x). The primary credit concerns are the heavy reliance on investment earnings to pay debt service and slow amortization of the debt. With the level of existing available funds exceeding the amount of debt outstanding, earnings on the available funds should be sufficient to meet debt service requirements; however, a decline in available funds could result in reduced coverage through earnings. In addition, any decline in available funds could affect the future ability to repay the principal. The 30-year debt does not begin amortizing until the last five years. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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