Fitch Affirms Kalkaska County, Michigan's UTGO Bonds at 'A-'; Outlook Stable.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 & CHICAGO -- In the course of routine surveillance, Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. has affirmed the 'A-' rating for Kalkaska County's (the county) $4.8 million unlimited tax general obligation bonds (UTGOs), series 1998. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The rating reflects the county's very low debt levels, prudent financial planning Financial planning Evaluating the investing and financing options available to a firm. Planning includes attempting to make optimal decisions, projecting the consequences of these decisions for the firm in the form of a financial plan, and then comparing future performance against , and the substantial available balances. Offsetting credit weaknesses include ongoing subsidies of a county-owned sports facility (the Sportsplex), and to a lesser extent, increasing property tax delinquencies. In addition, the local economy faces significant challenges with some of the major sectors, including manufacturing and construction, suffering significant declines or limited growth in recent years. Voters will decide on a proposed operating millage mill·age n. A tax rate on property, expressed in mills per dollar of value of the property. to support the Sportsplex this November. If the millage fails, the county will explore additional steps to limit the ongoing subsidies and stabilize reserve levels, which Fitch believes is necessary in order to maintain the current rating level. The series 1998 UTGO's are the only outstanding debt and the county has no plans for additional debt issuance. Annually, the county's treasurer issues short-term notes to purchase tax delinquencies from local taxing units. Generally, those notes are repaid within 6-7 months with tax collections. The county maintains its financial reserves in a delinquent tax fund and various special revenue funds, including a budget stabilization fund Stabilization fund may refer to:
Fitch issued an exposure draft on July 31, 2008 proposing a recalibration of tax-supported and water/sewer revenue bond ratings which, if adopted, may result in an upward revision of this underlying rating (see Fitch research 'Exposure Draft: Reassessment Reassessment The process of re-determining the value of property or land for tax purposes. Notes: Property is usually reassessed on an annual basis. You may request a "reassessment" if you disagree with your assessment. of the Municipal Ratings Framework'). 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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