New York, January 06, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Aa3 underlying rating to Jefferson County Board of Education, KY's $37.1 million School Building Revenue Bonds, Series 2021A, issued through the Jefferson County School District Finance Corporation, KY. Moody's maintains the district's Aa2 issuer rating and the Aa3 underlying rating on the district's outstanding lease appropriation debt. The outlook is stable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The Aa2 long term issuer rating reflects our assessment of the district's implicit general obligation credit strength; no rated debt is currently outstanding with this security. The rating incorporates the district's sizeable and regionally important tax base that serves as a major economic hub, average resident income levels and manageable debt and pension burdens. The rating also incorporates the district's narrowing financial position, which compare favorably to peers on a nominal basis and will stabilize in fiscal 2021 because of CARES Act funding and conservative budget assumptions.
The Aa3 lease revenue rating is one notch below the issuer rating, reflecting the risk of non-appropriation of annual rental payments for debt service on the lease revenue bonds and the essential nature of the leased assets secured by a statutory mortgage lien.
RATING OUTLOOK
The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the district's tax base and local economy will continue to experience moderate growth in the near term. The outlook also reflects our expectation that the district's financial reserves will remain satisfactory through fiscal 2021, following the receipt of CARES Act funding to reimbursement COVID-19 related expenses.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATING
- Substantial and sustained growth of reserves and liquidity
- Material reduction in debt and pension burdens
- Upgrade of the district's issuer rating (lease revenue bonds only)
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING
- Continued reduction in operating flexibility and reserve levels
- Material contraction in tax base and weakened income levels
- Significant increase in debt burden
- Downgrade of the district's issuer rating (lease revenue bonds only)
LEGAL SECURITY
The bonds are secured by annual lease rental payments from the school district, which are subject to annual appropriation. Additional bondholder security is derived from a statutory mortgage lien on the financed projects.
The current issuance benefits from SFCC support, covering approximately 32% of debt service through maturity. The Commonwealth's participation is subject to biennial appropriation by the state legislature.
USE OF PROCEEDS
The 2021A bonds will be used to fund construction and equipment of two new elementary school buildings and related facilities within the Jefferson County School District.
PROFILE
Jefferson County Board of Education is located in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky (Commonwealth of Kentucky, Aa3 stable) along the Ohio River and is coterminous with Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Government, KY (Aa1 stable). The largest school district in the Commonwealth, estimated enrollment is 96,249 for the 2020-21 school year. The board consists of seven elected members, representing individual election districts, that serve staggered four-year terms. The Jefferson County School District Finance Corporation, issuer of the Series 2021A bonds, is a non-profit corporation created by the district pursuant to Kentucky Revised Statute 162.385 to act as a municipal corporation and agency and instrumentality of the board.
METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in this rating was Lease, Appropriation, Moral Obligation and Comparable Debt of US State and Local Governments published in July 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1102364. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
The rating has been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
This rating is solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on its website www.moodys.com.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1243406.
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Nisha Rajan
Lead Analyst
Regional PFG Northeast
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Lauren Von Bargen
Additional Contact
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