St John receives higher bond rating : AA-
Standard and Poor's raises parish's bond rating from A+ ahead of sale
ST. JOHN – Last week, parish officials and their bond counsel participated in a conference call with Standard and Poor's Rating Services to review the parish's bond rating. The bond rating is used by firms when pricing bidding and setting interest rates on bond sales being done by municipalities. The rating increase was being sought for the sale of the $15,000,000 in revenue bonds approved by the St. John Council in December 2009. The bonds will be used to construct a 2,000,000 gallon per day expansion at the River road sewerage treatment plant and repair sewer pipes parish wide. The expansion will increase the sewerage treatment capacity to handle the parish's expected growth for the next 15 years.
Acting Parish President Pat McTopy, Acting Chief Administrative Officer Buddy Boe, Finance Manager Vince Lucia, Economic Development Director Julia Remondet, and bond counsel Hugh Martin participated in the call to discuss economic and financial matters with the rating firm. It is expected that the rating increase will result in a savings to the taxpayers through lower interest payments over the life of the bond.
This bond rating increase follows a similar increase the parish received in the summer of 2008 in relation to the $29.5 million general obligation bonds approved by the voters in April 2009. The rating report cited: "Growing regional economic base, strong maximum annual debt service coverage despite a projected decline in sales tax revenue, rapid amortization of outstanding parity debt, and strong legal prvisions."
"This increase is a testament to the good work done by the finance department to manage the parish's funds properly and will allow us to invest in the parish's infrastructure to prepare for future growth," said Finance Manager Vince Lucia.