Summary: Houston County, Alabama; General Obligation

S&P Global Ratings has assigned its 'AA-' long-term rating to Houston County, Ala.'s series 2017 general obligation (GO) refunding warrants. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'AA-' long-term rating on the county's GO debt outstanding. The outlook is stable. The warrants are a GO of the county, for the payment of which the county has irrevocably pledged its full-faith-credit-and-taxing power. The property tax pledge in Alabama is limited; the state has statutory-tax limitations that include debt-service levies. While the tax is technically limited, our analysis focuses on the strength of the full-faith-and-credit pledge, which we consider equal in credit quality to an unlimited-tax-GO pledge. Officials will use warrant proceeds to refund some series of warrants for interest

...S&P Global Ratings has assigned its '##-' long-term rating to Houston County, Ala.'s series 2017 general obligation (GO) refunding warrants. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its '##-' long-term rating on the county's GO debt outstanding. The outlook is stable. The warrants are a GO of the county, for the payment of which the county has irrevocably pledged its full-faith-credit-and-taxing power. The property tax pledge in Alabama is limited; the state has statutory-tax limitations that include debt-service levies. While the tax is technically limited, our analysis focuses on the strength of the full-faith-and-credit pledge, which we consider equal in credit quality to an unlimited-tax-GO pledge. Officials will use warrant proceeds to refund some series of warrants for interest cost savings. The Houston County Water Authority's series 2015 water revenue bonds are secured by revenues from water system operations and a funding agreement with Houston County. In accordance with the...

Summary