A significant financial achievement

Bloomington awarded top ratings from Standard and Poor's, Moody's and Fitch

By Mayor Gene Winstead

Bloomington has joined an elite few cities nationwide with three triple-A bond ratings. In October 2004, Fitch Ratings became the third credit rating agency to assign a triple-A to the City based on its healthy economic growth, strong financial management and manageable debt burden.

The City also maintained its Aaa from Moody's and AAA from Standard and Poor's, the highest bond ratings awarded by those agencies.

Bloomington is one of only 31 cities out of more than 19,000 municipal governments in the U.S. that have achieved triple-A ratings from all three agencies. Our city is currently one of two cities in Minnesota to hold all three highest ratings. That puts us in a pretty unique class. In addition, Hennepin County is the only county in Minnesota and one of only 20 counties nationwide to have the top triple-A bond rating from all three credit rating agencies.

According to the agencies, Bloomington's triple-A status reflects the City's:

Conservative fiscal management.
Diverse economic base rooted in substantial hospitality, manufacturing, service and trade industries.
Central location in the growing Twin Cities area.
Low unemployment rates that fall below state and national averages.
Continued success of the Mall of America tax increment district.
Significant flexibility in maintaining its strong financial position.
Manageable debt burden.

The City's excellent bond ratings communicates to businesses and individuals that Bloomington is a healthy community. It signals current and potential investors that our financial future is strong and ensures Bloomington's interest costs will remain as low as possible.

A senior fixed-income researcher from Nuveen Investment recently commented in the July 8, 2011 edition of Finance & Commerce on the value of a Triple AAA rated community that reflects Bloomington's approach to strategic decision making. He said, "AAA ratings are reserved for organizations that do just about everything right, just about all the time. Gimmicks and one-time fixes aren't indicative of true AAA issuers."

The achievement of three triple-A bond ratings doesn't happen overnight. The hard work of the current City Council and staff, as well as previous Councils and staff going back several decades, has paid off. The benefit of our strong financial position will be a great savings to everyone.

For more information contact:

Lori Economy-Scholler, Chief Financial Officer
1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington, MN 55431-3027
PH: 952-563-8790; FAX: 952-563-8789
E-mail: finance@ci.bloomington.mn.us