The City and County of Denver, Colo.'s GO bonds and the Denver Board of Water bonds, which are also secured by a GO bond of the City and County of Denver, are rated 'AA+' due to the following factors: A strong and diverse economy; Above-average wealth and income levels; Moderate debt levels; and Strong financial performance, aided by midyear budget-cutting actions to offset recent revenue declines. These factors are offset slightly by recent economic softness and state constitutional limitations on revenues, which probably will slightly "ratchet down" permissible revenues for general purposes after 2002. Denver serves as a service, trade, and transportation center for the greater Rocky Mountain region. Denver's growing metropolitan employment has strongly outperformed national trends since 1990,
