Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'AA-' rating to the Houston County Water Authority Inc. (HCWA), Ala.'s series 2015 water revenue refunding bonds. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'AA-' rating on Houston County's existing general obligation (GO) debt and the authority's existing parity bonds. The outlook on all issues is stable. The 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 agreement, the county's full faith and credit is irrevocably pledged to make payments if pledged water revenues are insufficient. Therefore, we rate the bonds as the county's GO, which we view as the stronger of the two pledged
