Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed the 'AA' rating, with a stable outlook, on Houston's series 2012A SIFMA Index floating-rate notes, which currently have a mandatory tender on June 1, 2015. The bonds will remain in SIFMA Index mode, with a new soft put date of June 1, 2020, precluding the need to maintain a liquidity facility. Because the bonds represent only a small part of Houston's Combined Utility System's (CUS) total capital structure, even at an unfavorable interest rate they, in our view, would not harm the system's overall financial risk profile. The rating reflects our opinion of the system's general creditworthiness, including its: Service area economy, which remains the largest and deepest in Texas despite the downturn in
