Bangkok--8 Jan--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its issuer credit rating (ICR) on Wyoming Public Schools, Mich.'s parity debt to 'A+' from 'A' based on the district's trend of stable financial operations boosted by strong general fund reserves.
At the same time, Standard & Poor's assigned its 'A+' ICR to Wyoming Public Schools' $9.1 million series 2009 unlimited-tax general obligation (GO) refunding bonds.
Standard & Poor's also assigned its 'AA-' enhanced program rating to the district's series 2009 bonds based on its qualification under the Michigan State School Bond Loan Fund Program.
The outlook on the ratings is stable.
Wyoming Public Schools encompasses 10.6 square miles of Kent County ('AAA' GO rating) adjacent to the southwest corner of Grand Rapids ('AA' GO rating).
Taxable value growth has been steady, averaging increases of 3% annually over the past five years to $1.06 billion in 2008. As has been typical of numerous school districts, estimated market value declined by 1% in 2008 to $2.2 billion, or $62,979 per capita, a figure we consider strong. The district's tax base is diverse with the 10 leading taxpayers comprising 12% of taxable value; Delphi Corp. is the leading taxpayer accounting for 4% on its own.
Financial operations have historically been stable, evidenced by the maintenance of a strong unreserved general fund balance which has increased in each of the past two fiscal years. Fiscal 2008 closed on June 30 with a total unreserved general fund balance of $5.5 million or, in our opinion, a strong 10.3% of expenditures and net transfers. For fiscal 2009, management reports that operations have been performing according to budget, but due to a conservative budgeting approach, specifically with respect to enrollment levels, a general fund surplus of up to $500,000 may be realized. A majority of the district's operating revenue is received from state sources (67%) with local sources accounting for an additional 17%.
Bond proceeds will be used to refund a portion of the district's series 1999 bonds, of which $9.5 million of principal is currently outstanding.
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) 212-438-6643, [email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Daniel Zuccarello, New York 1-212-438-7414
Scott D Garrigan, Chicago (1) 312-233-7014
Key Contacts:
Americas Media Relations: (1) 212-438-6667
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