Fitch Rates Maryland DOT's $30MM County Transportation Bonds '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 $30 million Maryland Department of Transportation The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Maryland. MDOT is overseen by Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, whom had previously served as the Secretary prior to his current term, from 1999 to 2003. (MDOT MDOT Michigan Department of Transportation MDOT Maryland Department of Transportation MDOT Mississippi Department of Transportation MDOT Maine Department of Transportation MDOT Montana Department of Transportation MDOT modified directly observed therapy ) county transportation revenue bonds, series 2007, for bids on May 2. The bonds will mature May 15, 2009-2022 and are callable Callable Applies mainly to convertible securities. Redeemable by the issuer before the scheduled maturity under specific conditions and at a stated price, which usually begins at a premium to par and declines annually. at par beginning May 15, 2017. Fitch also affirms the 'AA' rating on $28 million outstanding MDOT county transportation bonds series 2004, and approximately $1.1 billion in outstanding consolidated transportation bonds. The 'AA' rating reflects the strong bondholder protection provided by annual state withholding of highway user revenues. Funds for a participating locality are withheld by the state comptroller in amounts sufficient to cover that year's and the subsequent year's debt service. Under law, counties and the City of Baltimore receive a combined 30% of statewide highway user revenues, consisting of fuel and motor vehicle taxes and fees, as well as a portion of the state corporation income tax. In fiscal years 2003-2006, portions of the local share of highway user revenues were transferred to the state's general fund; no such transfers are planned in fiscal years 2007 and 2008. The series 2007 bonds are not obligations of the state or MDOT. However, Fitch considers them to be state tax-supported debt based on the source of the pledged revenues. An additional bonds test Additional bonds test A test for ensuring that bond issuers can meet the debt service requirements of issuing any new additional bonds. additional bonds test of 2 times (x) maximum annual debt service from a participant's share limits issuance. Maximum annual debt service of $5.9 million on the new bonds and series 2004 bonds together yield ample coverage at 37x. Bonds under the county program are subject to the state constitution's 15-year maximum for debt maturity. Proceeds will support transportation projects in the City of Baltimore. The state initiated the county transportation revenue bond program in 1993; presently, only one additional series of bonds is outstanding, also for projects in the City of Baltimore. Under its participation agreement with MDOT, the city covenants to keep its pledged share of highway user revenues free of conflicting commitments. Baltimore's allocations have climbed steadily since the state ended general fund transfers, rising to $227 million in fiscal 2007 from $170 million in fiscal 2004. The state forecasts modest but steady growth in highway revenues and associated local allocations through 2012. Baltimore's share is expected to rise to $268 million by fiscal 2012. 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. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion