Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is touting some good news from one of the financial sector’s key rating agencies.
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) had announced that Jacksonville’s special revenue bonds have been upgraded from “AA-“ to “AA.”
“This latest upgrade further demonstrates our continued and strong focus on fiscal responsibility is making a difference for our citizens,” Curry wrote in an email to WJCT News.
In making the announcement on Friday, S&P said it was raising its ratings “on various U.S. local government obligors,” adding it is “a change from our past approach, in which these pledges often lead to ratings that were a notch below the general creditworthiness.”
A number of Florida cities, including Tampa and Miami, also saw their ratings go up as a result of S&P's updated methodology.
“Improved credit ratings can save our city millions of dollars on future debt issues by lowering borrowing costs, which is good for taxpayers,” Curry said.
LIST OF JACKSONVILLE RATING ACTIONS FROM S&P RELASED FEB. 23
You can see S&P's full news release and list here (this link requires a subscription).
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
