Fitch Rates New Jersey Building Auth $47.1MM 2006A Revs 'A+'; Affirms State GOs 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 'A+' to the New Jersey Building Authority's (the Authority) $47,170,000 state building revenue bonds, 2006 series A. The bonds are scheduled for competitive bids on Aug. 8, 2006 and are due serially June 15, 2008-2027, or as a term bond option as determined by the successful bidder. Fitch also affirms the rating on the following: New Jersey Building Authority -- $641.8 million outstanding parity parity or space parity, in physics, quantity that refers to the relationship between an object or process and the image that it can produce in a mirror. state building revenue bonds 'A+'. New Jersey, State of --$3.1 billion outstanding GO bonds 'AA-'. The Rating Outlook remains Stable, and progress is being made toward financial improvement. The 2006 series A bonds are special obligations of the Authority, payable from lease rental payments made by the State of New Jersey (the state), subject to appropriation The designation by the government or an individual of the use to which a fund of money is to be applied. The selection and setting apart of privately owned land by the government for public use, such as a military reservation or public building. . Bond proceeds will be used for construction of a public health building among other projects. Credit strength is enhanced by the master lease structure, which encompasses numerous state buildings. Rental payments for the current financing and outstanding parity revenue bonds, under the master lease, are made semiannually sem·i·an·nu·al adj. Occurring or issued twice a year. sem  i·an directly to the trustee; the obligation of the state to make such rental payments is absolute and unconditional HEIR, UNCONDITIONAL. A term used in the civil law, adopted by the Civil Code of Louisiana. Unconditional heirs are those who inherit without any reservation, or without making an inventory, whether their acceptance be express or tacit. Civ. Code of Lo. art. 878.UNCONDITIONAL. , subject only to annual appropriation. In the event of non-appropriation, remedies include lease termination and exclusion of the state from the facilities. Rental payments are not subject to state occupancy or use of the leased properties. Further, the state budgets its rental payments with other state financing leases, thereby differentiating them from discretionary budgetary expenses. Since security for the bonds rests solely on the annual appropriations to be made by the State of New Jersey, the 'A+' rating on authority bonds reflects the general creditworthiness Creditworthiness The condition in which the risk of default on a debt obligation by that entity is deemed low. Creditworthiness Eligibility of an individual or firm to borrow money. of the state. New Jersey's 'AA-' GO rating and Stable Rating Outlook reflect the state's high wealth levels (third highest of the states) and a broad and diverse economy. The state's economic strengths have been offset by spending pressures and the use of non-recurring revenues, creating persistent structural gaps. In addition to the financial pressures, the debt burden is high, over 7% of personal income, and is expected to rise with ongoing capital demands for court-ordered school funding and transportation requirements. Decisive actions in the state's fiscal 2007 budget lay the foundation for financial strengthening. These measures include tax increases and reduction by half in the use of non-recurring resources to 3.3% of revenues. This was achieved despite a substantial increase in funding for pensions--although the budgeted level is still under 60% of the annual required pension contribution. The budget also absorbs large growth in debt service, in part the result of past bond restructurings, which will continue. Pressures on the state to contain and reduce high local property taxes are pronounced. Half of a one-cent sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. increase, expected to generate $1.2 billion, has been reserved for future property tax reform, which is now the subject of a special session and remains an uncertainty. The state's ability to sustain financial achievements will be important to the improvement of credit quality. 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. 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