Fitch Rates Tampa Sports Authority, Florida's CIT Revs 'AA', Sales Tax Revs '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 Tampa Sports Authority's (TSA TSA See tax-sheltered annuity (TSA). ) approximately $115 million local option sales tax In the United States, a Local Option Sales Tax (often abbreviated LOST) is a special-purpose tax implemented and levied at the city or county level. A local option sales tax is often used as a means of raising funds for specific local or area projects, such as improving refunding revenue bonds (stadium project), series 2005 and an 'AA-' rating to approximately $27 million Florida 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. payments refunding revenues bonds (stadium project), series 2005. Both series of bonds will be offered for competitive sale the week of Oct. 24. Proceeds of the local option sales tax bonds will be used to advance refund the outstanding series 1997 local option sales tax revenue bonds for savings equal to an estimated 4% of the refunded par. Proceeds of the Florida sales tax payment bonds will be used to advance refund the outstanding series 1997 Florida sales tax bonds, the majority of $1.7 million in estimated present value savings, which represents 6.1% of the refunded par, will be taken up-front and the economic savings will be used for capital expenditures. Fitch affirms the outstanding respective 'AA' and 'AA-' ratings on the series 1997 local option sales tax and Florida sales tax payments bonds, the entire amounts of which are expected to be advance refunded with proceeds of the current issuances. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The 'AA' rating on the local option sales tax bonds is based on strong coverage by pledged revenues and adequate legal protections for bondholders, as well as the general credit characteristics of Hillsborough County Hillsborough County is the name of two counties in the United States:
Which past endurance sting the tender cit. - Emerson. ), a 0.5% local option sales tax dedicated for capital expenditures, is pledged to repayment of the bonds. CIT revenues benefit from the county's diverse and vibrant economic base, and the tax has performed well. Since it was first levied in 1997, fiscal 2002 was the only year in which revenues declined, by 0.44%. Coverage of maximum annual debt service (MADS) by available CIT revenues in fiscal 2004 was a strong 7.3 times (x); TSA has no plans to further leverage the revenue stream. The CIT was authorized by Hillsborough County voters for a 30-year period ending Dec. 1, 2026; final maturity of the bonds is Jan. 1, 2027. The 'AA-' rating on the Florida sales tax payment bonds is based on the stability of the pledged revenue payment made by the State of Florida to the county, as well as adequate legal protections for bondholders. The county receives $2 million annually from a portion of the 6% state sales tax because the county is home to professional sports franchise teams. Pursuant to an interlocal agreement for stadium financing, revenues received by the county from this source are assigned to a trustee for the benefit of bondholders. Coverage of debt service is slightly more than 1x annually. Debt service beyond fiscal 2006 has not been reduced as a result of the refunding as TSA is taking the savings up front to fund capital expenditures and will make a termination payment on an investment contract entered into in 2000 with Lehman Brothers with proceeds released from the series 1997 bond sinking fund bond sinking fund See sinking fund provision. . TSA was created for the purposes of planning, constructing, and maintaining sports and recreational facilities within the county. In 1997, TSA issued three series of bonds, including the bonds currently being refunded, to finance construction of Raymond James Stadium Tampa Bay Buccaneers • • [ , which TSA has operated since 1998 and is owned by the county. The TSA board is composed of 11 voting members, with five each appointed by the county and the City of Tampa (the city) and one appointed by the governor. The city and the county have covenanted to budget and appropriate non ad valorem According to value. The term ad valorem is derived from the Latin ad valentiam, meaning "to the value." It is commonly applied to a tax imposed on the value of property. revenues annually to fund one-third and two-thirds of TSA's budgeted operating deficits, respectively. Hillsborough County is located on the central gulf coast of Florida. The county's GO bonds are rated 'AA+' by Fitch, reflecting its strong financial practices, low tax-supported debt burden, and a growing and diversifying economy. The service and trade sectors account for the largest components of the diverse employment base. Tampa (local option sales tax revenue bonds rated 'AA-' by Fitch) is home to numerous regional headquarters of multinational finance and insurance companies, providing employment opportunities to residents countywide. The county's 2004 unemployment rate of 3.8% was well below state and national levels of 4.8% and 5.5%, respectively. Per capita [Latin, By the heads or polls.] A term used in the Descent and Distribution of the estate of one who dies without a will. It means to share and share alike according to the number of individuals. retail sales in 2003 were approximately 129% of both state and national figures, benefiting the sales tax base. Tax base growth in the county has been strong, averaging 10% annually over the past five fiscal 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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