S&P Global Ratings has assigned an A+ issuer credit rating to the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara (HACSB), with a stable outlook.
An issuer credit rating is an independent, forward-looking opinion of an organization’s overall creditworthiness and its capacity to meet financial commitments.
The A+ rating is investment grade and reflects a strong capacity to meet those commitments.
“For HACSB, however, the rating is not simply a measure of financial strength,” HACSB officials said. “It is another tool to advance the agency’s mission.”
HACSB measures success in human terms: more families with safe and stable homes, more seniors able to age with dignity, stronger neighborhoods, and more residents connected to opportunities and pathways to self-sufficiency.
S&P’s assessment highlighted several strengths supporting that mission:
• An experienced and very strong senior management team and Housing Authority Commission with substantial expertise in affordable housing, development and finance;
• A very strong market position, reflected in sustained demand for affordable housing and exceptionally low vacancies across HACSB properties;
• Robust operating performance that compares favorably with many public housing authorities in the same U.S. rating category;
• Extremely strong liquidity and prudent reserves that provide substantial coverage of near-term obligations; and
• A strong debt profile and disciplined management of long-term financial commitments.
“We are steadfast housers because the need for affordable housing is urgent, but our work has never been only about constructing buildings,” said Rob Fredericks, executive director/CEO.
“It is about the people we serve – creating beautiful, welcoming communities where families can find stability, seniors can age with dignity, and residents can build pathways to self-sufficiency,” he said.
“As servant leaders, we have a responsibility to pair that urgency with disciplined stewardship. This rating strengthens our ability to do both,” he said.
The practical value of the rating is its potential to strengthen HACSB’s access to capital, broaden available financing options and reduce borrowing costs.
Those advantages can stretch limited public and private resources further as HACSB develops and preserves affordable homes for families, seniors, people with disabilities and members of the local workforce.
“Affordable housing developments depend on assembling many sources of capital, and every dollar we save in financing is a dollar that can be productively used elsewhere to produce or preserve housing,” said Dale Aazam, deputy executive director.
“An A+ rating can expand our access to lenders and investors and help us secure funding at a lower cost,” Aazam said. “That allows scarce public and private resources to go further, and more of those resources to reach the homes, services and communities they were intended to support.”
“The Commission is proud that an independent review recognizes the strength of this organization and the care with which it is managed,” said Lisa Carlos, chair, Housing Authority Commission. “This achievement reflects years of thoughtful planning, sound oversight and servant leadership rooted in accountability to the people we serve.”
The stable outlook reflects S&P’s expectation that demand for HACSB housing will remain high and that the agency’s history of robust operating performance and solid liquidity will help offset anticipated increases in debt associated with future affordable housing investments.
Continued discipline around liquidity and debt management will remain important to maintaining the rating.
HACSB will continue to pair careful financial management with an ambitious, mission-driven housing strategy.
That means using federal, state, local and private resources to create and preserve dignified affordable homes; building communities where residents feel welcomed and proud; and connecting people with opportunities that support stability, well-being and economic independence.
Learn more at www.hacsb.org.