...S&P Global Ratings raised its rating to '###' from '##+' on St. Johns County, Fla.'s existing water and sewer system bonds. At the same time, we assigned our '###' long-term rating to the county's approximately $41.125 million series 2021 water and sewer revenue and refunding bonds. The outlook is stable. The raised rating reflects our opinion of the utility's robust financial management practices, which have resulted in extremely strong all-in debt service coverage (DSC) over the past several years and moderately low leverage that we believe is sustainable. Historically, the utility has implemented the necessary rate increases to maintain an extremely strong level of DSC over the next five years, which we expect will continue despite increasing their debt burden through 2025. The system has a predominantly locally derived revenue base. Local service charges, derived through an autonomous rate-setting process, represent virtually all of the system's revenues. This, coupled with operating...
