Pittston Area School District
CUSIP 725726ML4
- Issue Currency: United States of America Dollars
- Announcement Date: 07-Sep-2018
- News: S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on Pittston Area School District, Pa.`s general obligation (GO) debt one notch to `A` from `A-`. The outlook is stable. S&P Global Ratings also assigned its `A` long-term rating and stable outlook to the district`s series 2018 GO bonds. The rating action reflects our opinion of the district`s continued improvement, and sustaining, of available reserves at stronger levels. The rating reflects our opinion of the district`s: Access to the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre metropolitan statistical area (MSA), Strong available fund balance, and Low-to-moderate debt with rapid amortization and limited capital needs. We believe somewhat offsetting these strengths are, what we consider, the district`s: Large pension and increasing retirement costs, and Adequate market value per capita. The district`s full-faith-and-credit pledge secures the bonds. The Act 1 Index under Pennsylvania commonwealth statute restricts a district`s ability to raise the tax levy higher than a certain index, which the Pennsylvania Department of Education determines. However, the district collects pledged property taxes from its entire property tax base; we do not believe there are limitations on the fungibility of resources available to pay debt service. Therefore, we rate the district`s limited-tax GO debt at the same level as our view of its general creditworthiness.
- Issue Currency: United States of America Dollars
- Announcement Date: 07-Sep-2018
- News: S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on Pittston Area School District, Pa.`s general obligation (GO) debt one notch to `A` from `A-`. The outlook is stable. S&P Global Ratings also assigned its `A` long-term rating and stable outlook to the district`s series 2018 GO bonds. The rating action reflects our opinion of the district`s continued improvement, and sustaining, of available reserves at stronger levels. The rating reflects our opinion of the district`s: Access to the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre metropolitan statistical area (MSA), Strong available fund balance, and Low-to-moderate debt with rapid amortization and limited capital needs. We believe somewhat offsetting these strengths are, what we consider, the district`s: Large pension and increasing retirement costs, and Adequate market value per capita. The district`s full-faith-and-credit pledge secures the bonds. The Act 1 Index under Pennsylvania commonwealth statute restricts a district`s ability to raise the tax levy higher than a certain index, which the Pennsylvania Department of Education determines. However, the district collects pledged property taxes from its entire property tax base; we do not believe there are limitations on the fungibility of resources available to pay debt service. Therefore, we rate the district`s limited-tax GO debt at the same level as our view of its general creditworthiness.
- Issue Currency: United States of America Dollars
- Announcement Date: 07-Sep-2018
- News: S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on Pittston Area School District, Pa.`s general obligation (GO) debt one notch to `A` from `A-`. The outlook is stable. S&P Global Ratings also assigned its `A` long-term rating and stable outlook to the district`s series 2018 GO bonds. The rating action reflects our opinion of the district`s continued improvement, and sustaining, of available reserves at stronger levels. The rating reflects our opinion of the district`s: Access to the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre metropolitan statistical area (MSA), Strong available fund balance, and Low-to-moderate debt with rapid amortization and limited capital needs. We believe somewhat offsetting these strengths are, what we consider, the district`s: Large pension and increasing retirement costs, and Adequate market value per capita. The district`s full-faith-and-credit pledge secures the bonds. The Act 1 Index under Pennsylvania commonwealth statute restricts a district`s ability to raise the tax levy higher than a certain index, which the Pennsylvania Department of Education determines. However, the district collects pledged property taxes from its entire property tax base; we do not believe there are limitations on the fungibility of resources available to pay debt service. Therefore, we rate the district`s limited-tax GO debt at the same level as our view of its general creditworthiness.
