S&P Global Ratings raised its underlying rating (SPUR) to ‘AA’ from ‘A+’ on Bullhead City Municipal Property Corp. (MPC), Ariz.’s existing series 2009 excise tax revenue and refunding bonds, issued on behalf of Bullhead City. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings assigned its ‘AA’ long-term rating to the city’s series 2019 excise tax revenue and revenue refunding obligations, which will fully refund the series 2009 bonds. The outlook is stable.
“The raised rating reflects the application of our ‘Priority-Lien Tax Revenue Debt’ criteria, published Oct. 22, 2018, on RatingsDirect,” said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Alyssa Farrell. Our assessment factors in both the strength and stability of the pledged revenue, as well as the general credit quality of the city, where taxes are distributed and collected (the obligor’s creditworthiness. The priority-lien rating on all excise tax revenue obligations is limited by our view of the city’s creditworthiness and is constrained from being raised unless we raise the city issuer credit rating.
The stable outlook reflects our expectation that pledged revenue will continue to provide at least very strong maximum annual debt service coverage, supported by ongoing development within the city and a limited likelihood that the city will issue parity debt to its maximum allowable levels due to a reliance on pledged revenue for operations. We do not anticipate changing the ratings within the two-year horizon of the outlook.
Certain terms used in this report, particularly certain adjectives used to express our view on rating relevant factors, have specific meanings ascribed to them in our criteria, and should therefore be read in conjunction with such criteria. Please see Ratings Criteria at www.standardandpoors.com for further information. Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect at www.capitaliq.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on S&P Global Ratings’ public website at www.standardandpoors.com. Use the Ratings search box located in the left column.
