Denver bonds rated AAA by three credit agencies Read more: Denver bonds rated AAA by three credit agencies

The City of Denver’s general obligation bonds have been rated AAA, the highest bond rating, by all three major national credit ratings agencies, Mayor John Hickenlooper and city CFO Claude Pumilia said on Tuesday.

Denver is the only city or county in Colorado to hold AAA ratings from all three credit agencies, the officials said.

“It’s rewarding to have three national agencies recognize the city’s creditworthiness with their highest ratings,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “This is the result of tough choices Denver has made in recent years to deliver balanced budgets and operate the city government efficiently and effectively.”

Moody’s and Fitch recently undertook a ratings re-calibration assessment for all of their municipal bond ratings, designed to bring those ratings into line with global scales for corporate bonds and sovereign debt, Denver officials said. While not an upgrade due to improved credit, the higher ratings from Moody’s and Fitch likely will translate into lower borrowing costs for the City and County of Denver, they said.

Standard and Poor’s upgraded the City’s bond ratings to AAA in September 2008.

“These ratings reflect the historically low default rate of municipal bonds compared to other types of debt, as well as Denver’s diversified economic base and proactive and prudent financial management,” Pumilia said in a statement. “The higher ratings will help support investor demand and lower the cost to taxpayers when the city needs to borrow money.”

Bond ratings are an independent opinion of the general creditworthiness of a borrower. For general obligation bonds, ratings are based primarily on four main factors: the economy, the issuer’s financial position, the issuer’s current and future debt burden, and financial management.