Standard & Poor’s announced last Friday that they assigned the City of Redmond’s 2011 limited-tax general obligation bonds a “AAA” rating, while affirming its “AAA” rating on the city’s outstanding general obligation bonds.

“These ratings are consistent with Redmond’s strong institutional financial policies,” said Standard and Poor’s credit analyst Kaitlyn Connors.

Standard & Poor’s also cited Redmond’s established economic base as a major employment center, maintenance of strong available reserves and low debt burden relative to market value as additional factors in determining the ratings. The ratings continue to give Redmond access to lower interest rates for the city’s bond sales, which in turn saves taxpayers money.

“S&P carefully scrutinized all aspects of the city and its economy,” said Mike Bailey, Redmond’s Finance Director. “The analysts came to the discussions with many questions, all of which the mayor and staff were able to answer to their satisfaction. In addition, Mayor (John) Marchione and the city council paved the way by maintaining strong fiscal discipline during uncertain economic times.”

In her report, Connors stated that the city’s management practices are “strong, well-embedded and likely sustainable.” The most notable of these practices is the use of long-term planning to guide operating budgets and capital spending. The city also monitors financial performance quarterly.

“I am pleased that Standard and Poor’s saw the strength and quality of our community, staff and elected officials and reflected that in their ratings,” Marchione said.

Standard & Poor’s is a leading provider of financial market intelligence and the world’s foremost source of credit ratings, indices, investment research, risk evaluation and data.