AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings assigns a rating of 'AA+' to Bernalillo County (the county), New Mexico's $2.7 million general obligation (GO) bonds, series 2008, which are scheduled to sell competitively on June 16. Fitch also affirms its 'AA+' rating on the county's outstanding $106.4 million GO bonds and 'AA' rating on $175 million outstanding gross receipts tax (GRT) bonds. The Rating Outlooks for both security types are Stable. The GO bonds are payable from unlimited property taxes.Fitch's rating of 'AA+' reflects the county's sound financial management and large financial reserves, diversified and growing tax base, and modest debt levels. With the recent imposition of additional GRTs, county operations have become more dependent on these revenues for support. Due primarily to the substantial contraction in housing construction, GRT growth has become sluggish after years of steady expansion. However, financial reserves remain very large and the county's proposed biennial budget conservatively projects minimal GRT growth. The county's conservative budgeting practices and attention to out-year financial projections should allow the county to weather this development slowdown. [In contrast to the residential market, commercial building has remained steady and numerous large pending commercial projects may help stabilize building activity in the city]. The county's development as a high-technology hub continues to attract higher wage industries and overall unemployment rates are near record lows.
As the state's largest county, the population has grown 13% over the 2000 census level and totaled over 629,000 residents in 2007, fueling strong property tax base growth of a compound annual average of nearly 9% over the last five fiscal years. The City of Albuquerque comprises about 80% of the county's population. The remaining population in the unincorporated areas represents the second largest population in the state.
Employment growth for the 12 months ending March 2008 for the Albuquerque metropolitan statistical area (MSA) totaled a modest 0.3%. After growing steadily through mid-2006, the construction sector has posted consecutive monthly declines since then. The county's preliminary unemployment rate for March 2008 totaled 3.4%, slightly below the state average but far below the national average, indicative of the generally stable economic base. Kirtland Air Force Base, Sandia National Labs, and Intel are among the MSA's largest employers, helping transform it into a hub for electronics, aviation and aerospace as well as defense-related research and development. However, in 2007, Intel laid off 1,000 employees, about a 20% of their current workforce. The size and strength of the area's economy along with its expanding high technology sector should mitigate at least some of this loss.
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