Moody’s Investors Service has assigned Fulton County schools its Triple A credit rating, the highest for a government body. It’s the first time in Fulton’s history it has earned the rating.
Moody’s upgraded Fulton schools from an Aa1 rating to Aaa for its $71.8 million general-obligation bonds and $28.5 million revenue bonds, issued through Union City, Ga., according to a statement the school district issued this week.
As strengths, Moody’s cited Fulton schools’ “large tax base that serves as a regional economic and employment center, historically stable reserve and liquidity positions, manageable debt burden and the use of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) revenues to provide significant funding for debt service and capital needs,” according to the statement from the district.
Credit ratings represent the credit-worthiness of corporations and government agencies. Investment professionals use the ratings to assess the likelihood a debt can be repaid. Ratings also help determine borrowing costs and the rate of interest paid.
The Fulton school district is the fourth-largest system in Georgia, with close to 96,000 students and 101 schools.
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