Fitch Ratings have raised the credit rating on Atascadero Community Development Agency’s 2004 Tax Allocation Bonds

ATASCADERO — The City of Atascadero announced that the Fitch Ratings have raised the credit rating on Atascadero Community Development Agency’s (Atascadero Redevelopment Project) 2004 Tax Allocation Bonds (TABs) from ‘AA’ to ‘AA+’. Fitch Reported, “The upgrade of the TABs to ‘AA+’ reflects improvement in growth prospects for revenues and financial resilience. Fitch assumes similarly strong revenue growth given continued growth in the redevelopment area and the tax base.”

According to Fitch, the key drivers impacting the rate change were continued expected revenue growth, the agency’s strong reliance to downturn, and the fact that no new debt can be issued, all tempered with moderate taxpayer concentration.

Fitch reports, “The city’s employment trends remain positive with unemployment below the state’s and national levels.” Fitch further reports, “The top 10 taxpayers comprise of 13 percent of TAV [taxable assessed value] and 19 percent of IV [incremental value], including commercial centers, a hotel and multi-tenant shopping centers.” The rating also speaks to the City’s thoughtful planning, good use of the City’s resources and to the strength of our finance team to keep us moving in the right direction.

“This is great news for the City of Atascadero. It is our Council’s commitment to fiscal stewardship and City staff’s follow-through on our strategic priorities that contribute to long-term financial stability,” said Mayor Heather Moreno.