Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its underlying rating (SPUR) to 'AA+' from 'AA' on King County, Wash.'s nearly $1.5 billion in outstanding sewer revenue parity (senior lien) bonds. In addition, Standard&Poor's raised its SPUR to 'AA-' from 'A+' on the county's outstanding junior (third) lien variable rate demand bonds (VRDBs). Concurrently, Standard&Poor's assigned its 'AA+' rating to the county's $350 million in sewer revenue bonds 2008, which are being issued as parity bonds and carry a senior lien pledge of net wastewater system revenues. Finally, we affirmed our 'A-1+' short-term rating on the county's $100 million in outstanding commercial paper, which is secured by a lien subordinate to the junior lien obligations. The rating actions
