The City of Fishers has boasted that it is the only municipality in the state of Indiana with the AAA debt rating from Standard & Poor (S&P) once that was announced in 2016.  The city has retained that AAA rating every year since, until now.

On September 14 of this year, S&P announced the debt rating for the City of Fishers on property tax-secured debt has been downgraded from AAA to AA+.  A financial news Web site quotes S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Bobby Otter as writing the following –  “The downgrade reflects our view of the city’s growing debt burden and high fixed costs.”

City officials say General Obligation bond debt is what has previously been AAA rated, and that rating went to AA+. The income tax-backed bonds went from AA+ to AA. The city points to another large bond issuance ($100 million) for the acquisition of sewers, where the city received a AA- rating for that debt.

“This is the largest bond issuance in the history of our city, we anticipated this rating, and we believe it’s an affirmation of our strong fiscal planning,” according to a written statement from Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness.   “We are thrilled with the rating that we received for the issuance of this size and for the use for which we were seeking the bonds.”