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CITY OF LA PORTE, TEXAS <br />MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS (continued) <br />Long-term Debt. <br /> At the end of the current fiscal year, the City had total bonded debt outstanding of <br />$45.1 million. Of this amount, $40.3 million is backed by the full faith and credit of the City, and the <br />remainder represents revenue bonds secured solely by specified revenue sources. <br />The City’s total debt decreased by approximately $2.6 million during the fiscal year. They key factor in <br />this decrease was payment of debt. <br />The City of La Porte maintains and “Aa2”, “AA”, and “AA-“ by Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch <br />respectively for general obligation debt. The revenue bonds have been rated “A2”, “A”, “NR” by <br />Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch respectively. <br />Additional information on long-term debt activity can be found in note 6 to the financial statements. <br />Economic Factors and Next Year’s Budgets and Rates <br />The unemployment rate for the City of La Porte is currently 9.0 percent which is an increase from the <br />rate of 8.3 percent a year ago. This is more than the state’s average unemployment rate of 8.5 percent <br />which is less than the national average of 9.0 percent. During the upcoming year, the City will closely <br />monitor the volatility in the housing market. Although our area has not been adversely affected by <br />home foreclosures, we will observe future economic changes. Total assessed value for all residential <br />and commercial property in the City of La Porte exceeded $2.0 billion for fiscal year 2011. The trend <br />for total assessed values has been steadily increasing each year with an average annual increase of 6 <br />percent over the past five years. <br />Assessed property values trends (in billions): <br />ΨϮ͘ϱ <br />ΨϮ͘Ϭ <br />Ψϭ͘ϱ <br />Ψϭ͘Ϭ <br />ΨϬ͘ϱ <br />Ψ <br />ϮϬϬϳϮϬϬϴϮϬϬϵϮϬϭϬϮϬϭϭ <br />10 <br /> <br />