Great Bond Rating News

Moody’s, one of the nation’s top bond-rating firms, has upgraded our Department of Public Works/Bureau of Sanitation's Wastewater System Revenue Bonds to a rating of Aa3. I know bond ratings sound incredibly boring and arcane on the surface, but this is actually terrific news for us. A higher bond rating means lower bond fees paid by the city on the infrastructure investments we make in our future. In their decision, the people at Moody's cited the recently enacted five-year sewer rate increase program, last year’s settlement of the Santa Monica Baykeeper lawsuit, and progress we've made in key capital improvements. They acknowledged that we've shown responsibility and strong management of the debt we carry on our sewer system, and that we've invested widely, with demonstrable improvements in the area of wet-water spills. Here's what it means: Los Angeles is getting the sewer system it paid for and more, and because we've done it right we will be able to do more in the future. See the press release from Public Works (pdf alert).