Fitch Ratings, a New York based municipal credit rating firm, announced in late September that after a re-review of Miami Garden’s latest financial numbers, it was re-affirming it’s 2010 “A” rating of the City’s City Hall financing and its “A+” rating of the City’s general finances. It also issued a “stable” outlook for the future.
Fitch Ratings’ credit ratings provide a public opinion on the relative ability of an entity to meet its bonded financial commitments such as interest and repayment of principal. Credit ratings are used by investors as indications of the likelihood of receiving the money owed to them in accordance with the terms of the City’s bond financing.
Fitch rates cities on a sliding scale ranging from the lowest rating, a “D” to its highest rating, a “AAA.” Each of these ratings are further defined by a “-”or a “+”. Investment grade bonds have a rating of at least a “BBB.” The higher the rating, the lower the borrowing cost for the city.
