Following a trip to New York City aimed at encouraging international bond rating agencies to upgrade Pittsburgh's credit rating, that very thing happened. Moody's upgraded the city from an A1 negative to A1 stable rating and Standard and Poor's upgraded the city from BBB negative to BBB stable.
"For the city and the taxpayers, this means that either their borrowing costs will remain the same or be improved. Either way it's a net plus for taxpayers," said Pete Schlict, financial advisor with Janney Montgomery Scott.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, City Council President Darlene Harris, and Council Finance Chair Ricky Burgess made the New York trip, making the case for Pittsburgh's financial improvement. City leaders said the upgrade will be helpful when the city goes to market January 30 for an $80 million bond issuance and a $45 million refinancing issuance. But, it's not the end of the road.
"The A1 rating is a reasonably high one, but it [Pittsburgh] still has a ways to go until it gets to AAA," said Schlict.
