August 2019 | Vol. 6 Iss. 08 factory seconds blowout!
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SOUTH JORDAN CITY LANDS ‘unheard of’ AAA bond rating
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By Jennifer J. Johnson | j.johnson@mycityjournals.com
W
hen it comes to financial freedom, a good credit rating is essential. The same is the case for governments and other entities, be they school districts, townships, cities, counties or states.
The name is bond—municipal bond
Having good credit, from a government point of view, boils down to having a good bond rating. Securing a good bond rating requires an entity being financially solid to begin with and then presenting that strength to an elite group of investment houses. If properly convinced, the house expresses its confidence with a positive bond rating. Just like with consumer credit, the better an entity’s bond rating the more positive the credit terms will be. With that in mind, this May, South Jordan City Manager Gary Whatcott and Chief Financial Officer Sunil Naidu joined the city’s longtime financial adviser Laura Lewis on a financial roadshow to New York City. The goal was to bring back the strongest bond ratings possible for the city to finance its new public safety building. And, in so doing, prudently finance city projects with the best-possible financial terms for taxpayers. SoJo’s new public safety building is being financed with the best terms possible, thanks to the city’s AAA bond rating (South Jordan Police Department). The trio spent several hours—in separate meetings—presenting SoJo’s financials to both the $6 billion S&P Global and and expression of overall creditworthiness. Fitch Ratings—two of “the big three” credit-rating agencies. ball-league sense Naidu explained there are two types of bonds cities opt After returning to Utah and waiting the requisite few These agencies are nationally recognized statistical rating organizations who have been designated by the United States weeks’ timeframe, the good news was received: South Jordan for—either general-obligation bonds or municipal-revenue bonds. Securitas and Exchange Commission for almost 50 years to City had received a “AAA” bond rating. A general-obligation is backed by the credit and taxing While “AAA” refers to minor-league play in professionassess strength of entities seeking financing. al baseball, in municipal math, it represents the best-possible power of the issuing jurisdiction rather than the forecastTriple A in the municipal-financial sense, not base- major-league ratings of future-looking confidence in the city ed revenue from a given project. Such Continued Page 10
Local Postal Customer ECRWSS
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Karts come to Daybreak
Scan Here: Interactive online edition with more photos.
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Administrative shift occurring in South Jordan schools
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Local Hiking
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