PORT TOWNSEND — Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has notified the city that its credit rating is now A+ with a stable outlook.
That is up from the A+ with a negative outlook rating that the city received one year ago.
“This is like a credit score,” City Manager David Timmons said.
“It shows that we are making progress in improving the city’s finances, and if the bond measure passes, we will get a better rate.”
A measure to approve or reject the city’s purchase of $3 million in general obligation bonds to support renovation of the Port Townsend Library is on Tuesday’s primary ballot for Port Townsend voters.
The measure, which requires a supermajority of 60 percent plus 1 to pass, would fund the renovation and expansion of the Carnegie Library portion of the library at 1220 Lawrence St.
The estimated cost to a taxpayer would be 14 cents per $1,000 assessed value, or $28 per year for the owner of a $200,000 home.
Timmons said the improved rating is evidence of the city’s economic recovery.
He said sales tax income so far this year has exceeded both projections and last year’s totals.
As of the end of July, the city had collected $932,000 in sales tax revenue that was not tied to the sales tax hike voters approved in 2010 for recreation, as opposed to $939,000 through the same time period last year.
Although this year’s revenues are less than were collected in 2012, Timmons said, this reflects an actual increase in revenues because the 2012 figures were miscoded when sales tax collected from the Port Townsend Paper Corp. were incorrectly allocated to the city.
“We don’t know exactly how much the miscoding cost us, but these numbers show we are holding our revenue levels,” he said.
The measure voters passed in 2010 raised sales taxes by 0.03 percent, such as the maintenance and operation of Memorial Field and the Port Townsend Recreation Center.
The sales tax revenue, which is collected countywide, increased from $121,000 by July of 2012 to $131,000 by July this year.
The real estate excise tax was nearly double, going up to $82,000 from the 2012 year-to-date figure of $43,000.
“We had projected $70,000 for this, so we are already ahead,” Timmons said.
Timmons said the lodging tax showed a decline from $143,000 to $138,000, a fact he atrributed to a wet spring.
Permit revenue also increased, from $73,000 to $100,000 year-to-date from last year, Timmons said.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but as long as it keeps going in this direction, we’ll be OK,” he said.
According to Standard & Poor’s website, its ratings express an opinion about the ability and willingness of an issuer, such as a corporation or state or city government, to meet its financial obligations in full and on time.
Ratings also can speak to the credit quality of an individual debt issue, such as a corporate note, a municipal bond or a mortgage-backed security, and the relative likelihood that the issue may default.
The ratings are awarded from AAA to D, with an A rating defined as “having a strong capacity to meet financial commitments, but somewhat susceptible to adverse economic conditions and changes in circumstances.”
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
