Moody’s Investors Service assigned its Aaa underlying rating and Standard & Poor’s assigned its underlying AA-plus rating to Richardson ISD’s upcoming sale of $200 million of Series 2022 school building bonds. Both ratings agencies said the outlook on RISD’s debt remains stable.
Standard & Poor’s also affirmed its AA-plus underlying rating on the district’s general obligation debt due to RISD’s “good fiscal management practices” that are bolstered by “conservative budgeting that supports positive financial performance and very strong reserves.”
Moody’s analysts cited RISD’s “very strong financial position that has been improving in recent years and will be maintained over the long term.” The underlying triple-A rating also reflects the school district’s strong and stable local economy supported by a favorable location within the greater Dallas metropolitan area, analysts said.
Another factor in the strong rating is “the district’s positive pre-pandemic enrollment trends that are expected to remain stable over the next few years,” according to Moody’s analysts.
Richardson ISD is one of a handful of Texas school districts that maintain the highest available bond ratings. This lowers the costs of issuance and results in further cost savings as the gilt-edged ratings enable RISD to achieve low interest rates on the debt.
