Summary: West Hartford, Connecticut; General Obligation

S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'AAA' long-term rating to West Hartford, Conn.'s $324 million series 2021B general obligation (GO) taxable bonds. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'AAA' rating on the town's GO debt outstanding. The outlook is stable. West Hartford's full faith and credit pledge, payable from the levy of an unlimited ad valorem tax on all taxable property in the town, secures the bonds and GO debt outstanding. Proceeds from the series 2021 bonds will fully fund the town's unfunded actuarially accrued liability of its pension system. The town estimates that fully funding the actuarial accrued liability reduces cumulative pension contributions by over $140 million on a present-value basis over the next 30 years. Initially,

...S&P Global Ratings assigned its '###' long-term rating to West Hartford, Conn.'s $324 million series 2021B general obligation (GO) taxable bonds. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its '###' rating on the town's GO debt outstanding. The outlook is stable. West Hartford's full faith and credit pledge, payable from the levy of an unlimited ad valorem tax on all taxable property in the town, secures the bonds and GO debt outstanding. Proceeds from the series 2021 bonds will fully fund the town's unfunded actuarially accrued liability of its pension system. The town estimates that fully funding the actuarial accrued liability reduces cumulative pension contributions by over $140 million on a present-value basis over the next 30 years. Initially, while the debt burden increases, the town's pension costs will substantially decrease, resulting in little to no budgetary effect in the beginning. Management is reducing the discount rate of the pension plan from the current 6.99% level...

Summary