Fitch Rates Jersey City, NJ's Qualified GOs 'AA'; Affs NJ Schl Credit Enhancement Program at 'AA'.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 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. assigns an 'AA' rating to the city of Jersey City, NJ's $17.05 million general obligation (GO) qualified school bonds, series 2007A, based on the enhancement provided by the New Jersey School Credit Enhancement Credit Enhancement A method whereby a company attempts to improve its debt or credit worthiness. Notes: Credit enhancements take many different forms. An example of a credit enhancement would be conversion rights added on to a debt instrument in order to lower the issuing Program's School Bond Reserve. The bonds, scheduled for public bids on Feb. 13, will mature serially Aug. 15, 2008 through 2027. Capital Financial Advisors, Inc. of Mount Laurel, NJ serves as the city's financial advisor. Concurrently, Fitch assigns the underlying rating of 'BBB' to the series 2007A bonds, affirms the 'BBB' on the city's outstanding general obligation bonds, and affirms the 'AA' rating on the New Jersey School Credit Enhancement Program. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The 'AA' rating for the New Jersey School Credit Enhancement Program's school bond reserve (the reserve) is based on the reserve's pledge as security for prompt payment of school-purpose bonds if an issuer is unable to make a payment, strong reserve levels, and added protection from other NJ State policies and programs for payment of debt service for school projects. The reserve, required by statute to be maintained at a level at or above 1.5% of outstanding school debt issued prior to July 2003 and 1% of outstanding school debt issued after July, 2003, is currently invested in U.S. Treasury U.S. Treasury Created in 1798, the United States Department of the Treasury is the government (Cabinet) department responsible for issuing all Treasury bonds, notes and bills. Some of the government branches operating under the U.S. Treasury umbrella include the IRS, U.S. bonds and other relatively safe securities. Revenues supporting the fund come from the sale of lands owned by the state after 1980, investment income, and, as a last resort to maintain reserve levels, state appropriations. At the current level, Fitch estimates that the reserve could cover an unprecedented 63 one-year defaults by an average-sized school debt issuer in the state. Furthermore, the exposure of the reserve to financially distressed school districts is limited by other statutory provisions including the New Jersey School Qualified Bond Act which pays debt service for qualifying, distressed districts, and Abbott funding which eases the cost burden of capital needs. The 'BBB' underlying rating for Jersey City reflects the city's limited reserve levels, a continuing structural financial imbalance, above-average unemployment rate, and below-average wealth levels. Offsetting these credit concerns are strong current property tax collections, substantial residential and commercial development, and the city's favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. geographic location. Like all NJ municipalities, Jersey City guarantees 100% of property tax receipts to both Hudson County and the school district, creating heightened inherent vulnerability to its tax revenue stream. Just across the Hudson River Hudson River River, New York, U.S. Originating in the Adirondack Mountains and flowing for about 315 mi (507 km) to New York City, it was named for Henry Hudson, who explored it in 1609. Dutch settlement of the Hudson valley began in 1629. from New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Jersey City's dynamic and diversified economy provides additional credit strength and longer term mitigation of the credit's risk factors. 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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