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Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has raised its long-term rating on Sarasota County's lim- ited ad valorem tax bonds to A- from BBB+, the county has announced The rating reflects the following, a news release says: • Evidence of some tax-base stabilization, with values increasing 4.1 percent in fis- cal 2014. • Stronger annual debt service coverage in fiscal 2013. • A revised debt service schedule following a 2011 defeasance, with lower payments through 2019. • The county's demonstrated willingness to step in when coverage falls to low levels to ensure that debt service on the bonds is paid from lawfully available funds. "This is further evidence of not only an improving economy, but also the [County] Commission's ongoing fiscal prudence when it comes to prioritizing our investments into the projects that the community needs most," said Steve Botelho, acting assistant county administrator and director of the Office of Financial Management, in the release. "Sarasota County originally issued the bonds to provide funds for its Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection and Parklands Program, a voter-approved and taxpay- er-funded initiative designed to acquire and protect natural lands and parklands," the release points out. The voters authorized the bonds in 1999 and renewed the authorization for an additional 10 years in 2005. SARASOTA COUNTY WINS HIGHER STANDARD & POOR'S BOND RATING The Sarasota County seal. Photo by Norman Schimmel The Sarasota News Leader No-Nonsense Reporting Sarasota News Leader March 14, 2014 Page 71