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Pittsburgh bond rating drops to junk status
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
By Timothy McNulty, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
A New York City agency dropped Pittsburgh's credit rating to junk bond status today, citing the city's failure to get new taxing authority from the state and its discussion of municipal bankruptcy.
Standard & Poor's dropped the city's ranking from A- to BB, a 5-notch drop. The new ranking is not investment-grade, placing it at so called "junk-bond" status.
That agency and others placed the city's credit rating on watch this summer, saying they would drop the ratings if the city's fiscal forecast did not improve. Today that threat was realized.
A low credit rating will increase the city's borrowing costs. Knowing that, the Murphy administration had already announced it would not borrow some $70 million to fund capital projects in 2004, as the city usually does every two years.
S&P said it dropped the rating due to three main factors: the unresolved status of state help for the city budget; an audit released in August questioning the city's ability to operate as a "going concern"; and statements by city officials that they are studying bankruptcy as one of several budget options.
The agency could increase the city's rating, but if the city's fiscal status stays on its current track -- with a $40 million budget shortfall this year that may double in 2004 -- it could cut the rating even further, especially if the city considers filing for bankruptcy, possibly shielding it from creditors.
"Should the city identify and implement budget-balancing options under its control or successfully negotiate expanded revenue and tax authority, which requires state legislative action, the rating could be restored to investment grade," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Karl Jacob said in a prepared statement.
"However, if the city continues to consider bankruptcy as an option to its current fiscal situation, a non-investment grade rating would be maintained, and if the city actually availed itself of protection under the bankruptcy code, the rating would be lowered further."
State legislation being unveiled today by House Republicans would bar the city from filing for bankruptcy unless approved by the governor; bar the city from becoming a state-sanctioned, financially distressed municipality, allowing it to charge commuter taxes; and tap a fiscal oversight board to propose annual budgets to the mayor and city council. Draft versions of the legislation have included no new taxing authority for the city.
S&P's BB rating is the best of its junk-bond-status ratings, but as with all the agency's low ratings, it is a warning to investors that the city may not be able to repay debt. Investors can still buy junk bonds, but banks cannot.
According to S&P's own definitions, "Debt rated BB has less near-term vulnerability to default than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions which could lead to inadequate capacity to meet timely interest and principal payments."
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More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.