Fitch Rts Leon County-Tallahassee, Florida Blueprint 2000 Sales Tax Revs 'AA-'; Upgrs Outstanding.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 assigns an 'AA-' rating to the Leon County-City of Tallahassee Blueprint 2000 Intergovernmental Agency, Florida's approximately $76.6 million 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. revenue bonds, series 2007. The bonds, expected to be insured, are scheduled to sell via negotiation with a syndicate led by Raymond James  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . & Associates, Inc on August 28 and will mature serially October 1, 2008-2019. Public Financial Management, Inc. is the county's financial advisor. In addition, Fitch upgrades the agency's approximately $63 million of outstanding series 2003 sales tax revenue bonds to 'AA-' from 'A+'. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The upgrade to 'AA-' from 'A+' reflects officials' tempered plans for leveraging the security, as well as the agency's solid coverage of maximum annual debt service (MADS) and consistent growth of pledged revenues; a stable economy dominated by government and higher education employers helps mitigate potential volatility in sales tax revenues. The agency's demonstrated track record of sound fiscal management, as well as adequate legal provisions are also rating factors. The agency was created by an interlocal agreement between the city and the county to provide the project management structure for a 15-year capital improvement program known as Blueprint 2000. The agency is governed by a board of directors, consisting of the five county commissioners (each having seven votes) and the seven city commissioners (each having five votes). The agency is responsible for planning, constructing, and financing the Blueprint 2000 program, which includes projects for transportation and stormwater improvements. The interlocal agreement does not terminate until the bonds fully mature, and the agency cannot declare bankruptcy. The sales tax revenue bonds are secured by the agency's share of the one-cent local option infrastructure sales tax levied in the county. The sales tax has been levied since 1989, and in November 2000, voters approved the extension of the tax for Blueprint 2000 projects by a 63% margin; the extension began in 2004 when the original sales tax expired and continues through 2019. Pursuant to the interlocal agreement, the city and county have pledged 80% of their 50% shares of the tax proceeds to the agency to secure the bonds and pay the costs of the Blueprint 2000 projects. The remaining 20% of the proceeds are split evenly between the city and county. Dedicated sales tax payments are deposited directly to the agency by the state. Fiscal 2006 revenues provide 2.1 times (x) MADS coverage. At inception, the agency anticipated leveraging the security down to the 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 , which requires coverage of 1.25x MADS, but officials now project leveraging to only 1.50x MADS. The agency's requirement to pay subordinate debt See Junior debt. and operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. after the payment of debt service on the senior lien senior lien n. the first security interest (lien or claim) placed upon property at a time before other liens, which are called "junior" liens. (See: mortgage, deed of trust, lien, UCC-1) bonds provides senior bondholders with additional protection. Fitch notes that officials' projections of 4.5% annual growth in sales tax revenues are somewhat aggressive given the recent statewide slowdown; however, reduced levels of pledged revenue growth would still provide adequate coverage levels. The agency's 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 revenues have grown an average of 5.0% annually over the past decade, including estimated growth of 2.4% in fiscal 2007, slightly below budget. Leon County (capital improvement revenue bonds rated 'AA-' by Fitch; Stable Outlook) is located in northwestern Florida and contains the state capital, Tallahassee (capital bonds rated 'AA'; Stable Outlook). County population grew at about the same rate as the state in the 1990s, but trails the state's growth rate through 2006; the county's estimated 2006 population is 245,625. The numerous state governmental offices associated with the capital complex, along with the campuses of Florida State University Florida State University, at Tallahassee; coeducational; chartered 1851, opened 1857. Present name was adopted in 1947. Special research facilities include those in nuclear science and oceanography. and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, at Tallahassee; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1887; predominantly African American. (Florida A&M), provide a stable base for the regional economy. County and city unemployment rates are below the state's low 3.2% rate for May 2007, and income levels are slightly below state and national averages. 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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