(Miami, FL.) In an opinion released today, Fitch Ratings announced that it has upgraded the rating of the City of Miami’s ad valorem tax bonds to an ‘A-’ from a ‘BBB+’ and the general obligation tax bonds to an ‘A’ from an ‘A-.’. These bumps up will allow the city to issue bonds at a lower interest rate, which represents tax dollar savings on future bond issues. This move continues to add to the upward slope in the city’s bond ratings in the past five years, with three previous upgrades from Moody’s Investors Service and another from Standard & Poor’s.

"Today's upgrade demonstrates Wall Street's continued confidence in our fiscal turnaround, financial planning, and stability," said Mayor Manny Diaz.  "We are especially proud of the upgrade not only due to the fact that we were rated at junk when I first took office, but because of the fiscal savings to our residents these high bond ratings represent." 

Among the reasons cited by Fitch Ratings for the rating upgrades are “sustained improvement in financial health” and “low debt levels.” The opinion also points out that the city’s financial performance has notably improved since the 1980’s and 1990’s citing the growth in the unreserved general fund balance, which has gone from a “negative equity position in 1996 to a robust 25% of spending as of September 30, 2006.” 

"We are pleased with the upgrade from Fitch and will continue to work towards improving our financial standing so that we can enhance services to city residents,” said City Manager Pete Hernandez. “This is a testament to the responsible fiscal management in our city.”

Just last November (2006), Moody’s upgraded the city’s General Obligation Bonds to an A2 from an A3.