NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) May 21, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services has raised its rating on Orange County, Fla.'s series 2003 public service tax (PST) refunding and improvement revenue bonds to 'AA' from 'AA-'. At the same time, Standard&Poor's assigned its 'AA' rating to the county's series 2013 PST refunding revenue bonds. "We base the upgrade, in part, on the bonds' very strong historical coverage levels," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Le T Quach. The upgrade also reflects our view of the following: The essential nature of the services being taxed and pledged to the bonds; The use of these pledged revenues to support certain operating expenditures, thereby reducing the incentive to significantly leverage these revenues;
