McAllen- There’s more great news for the City Of McAllen. City leaders were just notified that the City of McAllen received an ‘AA+’ credit rating assigned by Fitch Ratings for the infrastructure bond issue proposed for January 2016.
In assigning the second highest obtainable rating, Fitch Ratings cited McAllen’s strong financial management, diverse international economy, sales tax concentration, and trade with Mexico.
Fitch also affirmed ‘AA+’ for the $56.8 million for General Obligation (GO) bonds.
“I was very pleased to receive the news that we maintained the City’s AA+ Fitch Bond Ratings for our recent CO and GO bond issues,” said McAllen Mayor Jim Darling. “The report also mentioned our tax base growth with positive activity in the hotel, retail, medical and residential sectors.”
The ‘AA+’ rating is the second highest rating a municipality can receive. The City of McAllen has always rated ‘AA+’. The only rating higher is ‘AAA’ and only a handful of cities ever receive that rating according to city administrators.
“This positive rating verifies that McAllen is a great place for visiting, shopping, working and certainly a great place to live,” added Darling.
According to city officials a high bond rating helps reduce the city’s borrowing costs, allowing the city’s money to stretch further for capital projects. The City is able to sell GO bonds to finance voter-approved capital projects. The ratings also increase the value of existing GO bonds for investors.
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