Bangkok--17 Oct--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'AA-' rating to the state of Colorado's series 2008 Higher Education Capital Construction certificates of participation (COPs). Additionally, Standard & Poor's affirmed Colorado's 'AA' issuer credit rating (ICR), as well as its 'AA-' Standard & Poor's underlying rating (SPUR) on the state's existing debt. The outlook is stable.
"The rating reflects the pledge of state lease payments, subject to annual appropriation, as well as the state's strong general credit characteristics," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Rob Williams. "Contributing factors include the state's strengthened financial position, the result of strong revenue growth and the passage of Referendum C, which has allowed the state to retain surplus revenues that otherwise would have been refunded to taxpayers, as well as its very low debt burden, constrained by constitutional limitations on state general obligation debt."
The creation of the Higher Education Capital Construction Lease Program, funded with federal mineral revenues, provides additional support for capital projects for higher education from a dedicated revenue source.
The Colorado economy has begun to slow, though still manageably, after a steady rebound from the 2000-2002 recession. Overall, the state economy has performed better than the nation's overall, with lower unemployment and healthy, though slowing, income growth and sales tax generation. Economic growth has been led by broad-based employment gains, including a slower, but still positive, 0.5% increase in employment from July 2007 to July 2008. Oil and natural gas production has also been booming on the Western Slope, though its impact is still limited in terms of total state employment.
Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; select your preferred country or region, then Ratings in the left navigation bar, followed by Credit Ratings Search.
Media Contact:
Edward Sweeney, New York, (1) 212-438-6634
[email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Robert Williams, San Francisco (1) 415-371-5070
David G Hitchcock, New York (1) 212-438-2022