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| For Immediate Release | Contact: Frances Squire |
| June 10 , 2008 | Phone: (559) 934-2134 |
S&P rates WHC bonds A+
An improved bond rating for West Hills Community College District is good news for taxpayers in the district.
Ken Stoppenbrink, vice chancellor of Business Services, said that Standard and Poor’s Rating Services has raised its underlying rating on WHCCD general obligation debt to A+ from A.
“The bottom line on this improved rating,” Stoppenbrink said, “is that the taxpayers in our district will pay less in the way of taxes to retire any future bonds issued by WHCCD.
For instance, on our recently passed $11.8 million School Improvement Facilities District #1 bond that was approved by voters on June 3 for the northern area of our district, the improved rating will mean a savings of $1.2 million over the 30-year life of those bonds.”
In a publication dated June 2nd, Standard and Poor’s credit analysts Jennifer J. Neel and Robert Williams noted that the upgrade reflects WHCCD’s:
The report notes offsetting factors include higher area unemployment rates, which are reflective of the area’s agricultural economic base and a slower-than-average amortization schedule.
“The stable outlook reflects the district’s healthy financial operations and improved reserve levels. Standard & Poor’s expects that the district will manage growth pressures and capital needs while preserving adequate reserve levels going forward,” according to the report.
Uncertainties exist regarding the state’s fiscal health, the report notes, but says that the district is identifying measures to address them and has reserve levels that should provide it with the “financial wherewithal to weather the state’s uncertain appropriation environment.”
The district has maintained a reserve level about the state-mandated five percent, the report says, and is expecting 2008 to end wit a 7.5 percent reserve.
Full-time equivalent enrollment has grown by 48 percent since 2001, to 4,950.
Stoppenbrink said that about 6,500 students take classes each semester in the district.
Tax base in the district has grown by 48 percent since fiscal year 2002, the report notes, to $6.8 million in fiscal year 2008. Four of the top 10 taxpayers in the district are involved in food processing including Leprino Foods, which is the district’s top taxpayer.
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West Hills Community College District serves the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and is part of the California Community College System. Its two colleges, West Hills College Coalinga, which includes North District Center, Firebaugh, and West Hills College Lemoore, serve more than 6,500 students on campus and online each semester.