Some Good News: Philly’s Bond Rating Now Highest It’s Been Since 1979
You know who likes all that tax-raising and service cutting you’re so sick of? Your friends over on Wall Street. After all, they’re the ones underwriting Philly’s municipal bonds. So the closer the city gets to getting out of debt, the happier they are. Today we learn that ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has upgraded Philly’s general obligation debt from B+++ (half-decent) to A- (decent) for the first time since 1979.
Reason cited: New revenue streams (i.e. taxes and cuts), a diversifying economy (health care, higher ed), and the oversight of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), the city’s fiscal watchdog. Now let’s go out and try to borrow like crazy so we can fund the schools!
*OK, that’s an exaggeration, but when’s the last time the city fiscal state wasn’t a laughingstock?
