Fitch Affirms Various Tampa Sports Authority, Florida Ratings

2008-11-13 22:41:02 -

In the course of routine surveillance, Fitch affirms Tampa Sports Authority, Florida (TSA) approximately $108.0 million in local option sales tax revenue bonds at 'AA' and the $25.2 million in Florida sales tax payments revenue bonds at 'AA-'. The Outlook on both ratings is Stable.
The 'AA' rating on the local option sales tax bonds is based on strong coverage by pledged revenues and adequate legal protections for bondholders, as well as the general credit characteristics of Hillsborough County, FL (the county), whose general obligation (GO) bonds are rated 'AA+' by Fitch. A portion of the proceeds of the community investment tax (CIT), a .5% local option sales tax dedicated for capital expenditures, is pledged to repayment of the bonds. CIT revenues benefit from the county's diverse and vibrant economic base and the tax has performed well. Coverage of maximum annual debt service (MADS) by available CIT revenues was a strong 8.9 times (x) in fiscal 2007. Unaudited results for fiscal 2008 show a 7.7% decline in revenues although coverage remains healthy at 8.2x. The TSA has no plans to further leverage the revenue stream. The CIT was authorized by Hillsborough County voters for a 30-year period ending Dec. 1, 2026, a month before the final maturity of the bonds.
The 'AA-' rating on the Florida sales tax payment bonds is based on the stability of the pledged revenue payment made by the State of Florida to the county, as well as adequate legal protections for bondholders. The county receives $2 million annually from a portion of the 6% state sales tax because the county is home to professional sports franchise teams. Pursuant to an interlocal agreement for stadium financing, revenues received by the county from this source are assigned to a trustee for the benefit of bond holders. Coverage of debt service is slightly more than 1x annually.
Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww ... Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.

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