Sarasota County bonds grade raised to A-

SARASOTA — Financial rating service Standard & Poor's upgraded Sarasota County's bond rating.

The agency, according to a release, citied a 4.1% rise in taxable property values for fiscal 2014 in the upgrade, which boosted the county's limited ad valorem tax bonds to A- from BBB+.

“This is further evidence of not only an improving economy, but also the (County) Commission's ongoing fiscal prudence when it comes to prioritizing our investments into the projects that the community needs most,” Sarasota County acting assistant county administrator and Office of Financial Management Director Steve Botelho says in the release.

Sarasota County originally issued the bonds for its Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection and Parklands Program, the release states. Those programs were voter-approved initiatives funded by taxpayers. The bonds were approved in 1999 and renewed for 10 years in 2005.

Standard & Poor's report cited several other positive factors in addition to the property values. Those include stronger annual debt-service coverage in fiscal 2013 and a revised debt-service schedule following a 2011 defeasance with lower payments through 2019.