City's 'Exceptional' Money Management Earns Highest Credit Rating

CORONADO, CA – Moody’s Investors Service has issued its highest credit rating to the city of Coronado for an exceptionally strong financial position, large tax base, and affordable debt and pension liabilities.

The Moody’s designation affirms Coronado's previous AAA rating issued in 2014. The city joins 12 others in California including Beverly Hills, Newport Beach and Palo Alto, and remains the only one in San Diego County to earn the accolade.

According to Moody’s, the city has continued to maintain a robust financial position.

“Coronado’s available fund balance as a percent of operating revenues (113.4 percent) far surpasses the U.S. median," representatives from the investor service said. "Additionally, the net cash balance as a percent of revenue (117.1 percent) is far superior than other Moody’s-rated cities nationwide.”

City Manager Blair King said he's proud that his staff members' hard work has paid off, expressing that, "The rating validates (our) credit position as being of the highest quality.”

The report noted that Coronado has an exceptionally healthy economy and tax base with a full value per capita pegged at $331,502 — a much stronger value than the U.S. median. It also found that the city's median family income equates to slightly more than 164 percent of the national level. Finally, Moody’s identified Coronado’s fully assessed value at $7.7 billion, which reflects a material increase to other rated cities in the country.

The AAA rating significantly exceeds the median AA assessment that's prevalent in the U.S. Although the report noted Coronado’s lack of debt, it also points out an adjusted 1.9 percent net pension liability to operating revenues. That value is unfavorably higher than the national median, and it's one that increased modestly from 2013 to 2015.

Coronado first underwent Moody’s analysis of financial records in 2013 to obtain an independent report of its fiscal condition. The evaluator follows a set of rigid standards when ranking agencies' creditworthiness.

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