Budget and Finance
CITY CREDIT RATING: Portland’s General Obligation (GO) Bond Rating
Current Value
9
Definition
Each spring get the latest Moody's general obligation bond rating report for the City.
Spring 2025 (Link to the latest report)
*Historic bond ratings were pulled from the BFM, CBO's budget software program.
Why Is This Important?
The City issues General Obligation (GO) bonds, or debt, to fund major capital projects that build and maintain infrastructure, such as parks and roads. A City’s GO bond rating is similar to a person’s credit score. It is a measure of an agency’s ability to repay its debt, reflecting the overall financial stability of the City.
A stronger bond rating enables the City to secure lower interest rates on new borrowings, achieving the most favorable borrowing costs. By leveraging its bond rating, the City has been able to reduce debt service payments and minimize the impact on taxpayers.
What Do The Numbers Show?
The current Moody's rating of Aaa (converted to 9) is the highest rating a city can achieve. The City of Portland has maintained the highest bond rating of 9 for many consecutive years.
The Moody’s report from March 2024 gives Portland a "stable outlook" for its finances, meaning they expect the city's financial health to stay strong in the near future. The city is praised for having solid management and policies that help balance its budget by matching income with spending.
The report highlights Portland's strengths, like a growing economy, strong finances, good management practices, and a dedicated property tax to cover pension costs. However, it also points out a challenge: downtown Portland is still recovering from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to lower city revenue.
How Did We Arrive at These Numbers?
Moody's credit rating is a system used by Moody's Investors Service, one of the leading firms that evaluates the creditworthiness of borrowers, including governments and corporations. To display the ratings on a graph over time, the City converts them to numbers. The annual ratings are given on a scale from Aaa (highest, converted to 9) to C (lowest, converted to 1), with several levels in between. A higher rating indicates a lower risk of lending.
Where Can I Find More Information?
A complete credit analysis of Portland’s credit rating can be found in The City’s 2024 Moody’s Report.
To learn more about credit ratings and Moody’s rating scale and process, visit Moody’s webpage on rates.
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