Orazoonie deluge boosts our credit rating

Hey Sault Ste. Marie!

Standard & Poor's has just boosted your credit rating: from A- Stable to A- Positive.

The upgrade is based on "lower-than-expected debt levels and strengthening cash and investment balances," the rating service says.

Standard & Poor's says our debt burden (12.7 percent of operating revenue) is "very low and comparable with that of more highly rated domestic and international peers."

Four years ago, it was 22 percent as the City dipped into its reserves to pay for capital expenditures.

The rating service also cites unusually strong support from senior levels of government, including $20 to $25 million a year in unconditional provincial grants for things like our new arena, sewage treatment facility and hospital.

Standard & Poor's nonetheless expresses concern that the Sault's employment and tax base are so dependent on one company: Algoma Steel.

A number of other major local employers depending on the mature steel and cyclical pulp and paper industries are viewed as another drawback.

"Moreover, the city's relative remoteness limits its medium-term growth prospects. Nevertheless, officials have made efforts to diversify the city's economic base, particularly in the tourism, alternative energy, and multirnodal transportation sectors."