Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, IN -- Moody's assigns initial Aa2 issuer rating to Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, IN

Rating Action: Moody's assigns initial Aa2 issuer rating to Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, INGlobal Credit Research - 29 Mar 2021New York, March 29, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned an initial Aa2 issuer rating to the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, IN. Concurrently, we have assigned a Aa2 rating to the authority's $12 million General Obligation Bonds of 2021 and a Aa2 rating to the $15.5 million Tax-Exempt Private Activity General Obligation Bonds of 2021. After the current sale, the authority will have $27.5 million of rated debt outstanding.The issuer rating represents Moody's assessment of hypothetical debt of the county supported by a general obligation unlimited tax (GOULT) pledge. The authority does not currently have any such GOULT debt outstanding. The requirement to levy property taxes for debt service on the new bonds is limited by Indiana's circuit breaker legislation.RATINGS RATIONALEThe Aa2 issuer rating reflects the authority's extremely healthy financial position, a large and growing tax base with below average resident income, a moderate debt burden, and a low pension burden. The rating also incorporates the competitive nature of the authority's operations.The lack of notching between the Aa2 issuer rating and the Aa2 rating on the new bonds reflects the authority's general obligation to pay debt service. The authority has pledged revenue from a dedicated property tax levy and other available funds toward payment on the bonds.RATING OUTLOOKMoody's does not generally assign outlooks to local governments with this amount of debt.FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATINGS-Strengthening of resident income profile-Growth and diversification of economic baseFACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS-Weakening of the economic base -Material decline in reserves -Increased debt burden LEGAL SECURITY The new bonds are secured by the authority's general obligation pledge supported by a covenant to levy ad valorem taxes on all taxable property within the district to pay debt service. The levy is subject to Indiana's Circuit Breaker taxing limitations, but the authority has covenanted to transfer other available funds for debt service if necessary. State law also stipulates that debt service is a first budget obligation for bonds secured by ad valorem property taxes.USE OF PROCEEDSProceeds of the bonds will fund portions of the authority's west terminal expansion and renovation project.PROFILEThe Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority operates the Fort Wayne International Airport, a primary non-hub airport in northeast Indiana with two commercial runways and one general aviation runway. The airport is served by American Airlines, Inc. (Ba3 negative), Delta Air Lines Inc. (Baa3 negative), Allegiant Travel Company (Ba3 negative) and United Airlines, Inc. (Ba1 negative). The authority's facilities also include the Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base. The authority's jurisdiction is coterminous with the boundaries of Allen County.METHODOLOGYThe principal methodology used in these ratings was US Local Government General Obligation Debt published in January 2021 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1260094. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.REGULATORY DISCLOSURESFor further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review.Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1243406.At least one ESG consideration was material to the credit rating action(s) announced and described above.Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating.Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating. 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