...NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) May 14, 2015--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its rating on Orange County, Fla.'s tourist development tax (TDT) bonds to '##-' from 'A+'. At the same time, Standard & Poor's assigned its '##-' rating to the county's series 2015 TDT refunding revenue bonds. The outlook is stable. "The upgrade is due to strong demand for hotel rentals and other short-term accommodations in the county, which has resulted in higher occupancy rates and pledged revenue growth," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Hilary Sutton. The bonds are special obligations of the county secured by its TDT levied at a rate of 4% of each dollar charged for hotel rentals and other short-term accommodations, as well as its fifth-cent tax. The indenture requires the county use TDT proceeds first in the payment of priority expenses (capped at the greater of $400,000 or 1.74% of TDT proceeds for the previous fiscal year) and then debt service. Because the permitted uses of the fifth-cent...
