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Article: Trends in the Region: What Slowdown? Affluent Palm Beach Bonds for New Center.
- Article from:
- The Bond Buyer
- Article date:
- May 10, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 SourceMedia, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Florida's wealthiest county, Palm Beach, joined a growing trend in public finance when on May 1 it issued $80.7 million in revenue bonds backed by tourism taxes to build a new convention center.
In evaluating the deal for investors, the three major rating agencies put Palm Beach in a select niche of municipal issuers, citing its wealth as a top consideration for assigning high ratings. The county's general obligation debt is rated AAA by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch and Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service.
The county's financial strength, along with insurance from Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., earned Palm Beach triple-A ratings for the May 1 ...