Agenda - Council - 10/24/2023 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Summary: Ramsey, Minnesota; General Obligation Strong management,highlighted by the city's five-year operating forecast, 10-year capital improvement plan, and fund balance policy requiring 50%of expenditures in reserves,with a strong institutional framework score. We do not view pension and other postemployment benefits to be a credit pressure, given how low contributions are relative to budget. However, General Employees'Retirement fund and Public Employees' Police and Fire fund contributions were below our minimum funding progress metric last year and current fixed-rate contribution practices are not expected to materially reduce unfunded liabilities in the near term. Environmental, social, and governance Ramsey faces heightened environmental risks based on the elevated manganese levels in four of its eight drinking water wells, as per the Minnesota Department of Health guidelines. Elevated manganese levels pose health risks to bottle-fed infants, children, and adults.The city is remediating these risks through the above-mentioned improvements to the water treatment plant,which are under construction.We view the city's social and governance risks as neutral in our credit rating analysis. In addition, Ramsey has implemented policies and practices to help mitigate its exposure to cyber security risks. Outlook The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Ramsey will maintain its fund balance within its reserve policy and property tax revenue growth will continue over the two-year outlook horizon. Downside scenario We could take a negative rating action if the city were to become operationally imbalanced and make a materially large draw on its reserves. Upside scenario We could take a positive rating action if Ramsey strengthened multiple credit factors, including moderation of the debt profile and materially higher income and wealth metrics. • credit metrics Most recent Historical information 2022 2021 2020 Very strong economy Projected per capita EBI%of U.S. 110 Market value per capita($) 146,383 Population 28,178 27,487 27,154 County unemployment rate(%) 2.6 Market value($000) 4,124,767 3,773,024 3,284,612 3,022,065 Ten largest taxpayers%of taxable value 7.8 Strong budgetary performance Operating fund result%of expenditures 0.7 2.5 8.5 Total governmental fund result%of expenditures 10.7 1.1 (1) WWW.STANDARDANDPOORS.COM/RATINGSDIRECT OCTOBER 17, 2023 3