FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Jim Lewin, Lee County Budget Services
               (239) 335-2336

COUNTY'S BOND RATING UPGRADED FOR LATEST ISSUE/STRONG FINANCIAL POSITION CITED

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 26, 2004) - Two of the nation's major bond rating agencies have assigned high ratings to the county's latest debt based on its conservative budgeting and strong financial position.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned an A1 rating to Lee County's proposed $57-million bond financing of the expansion of the Lee County Justice Center Complex. Standard & Poor's assigned the same issue an A+ rating. It also upgraded $18.2-million of bonds the county issued in 2000 from A- to A+, a significant leap in confidence.

For Moody's, A1 is the agency's highest quality rating for "Upper Medium Grade" debt. The high rating allows the county to sell the bonds at a lower interest rate and is a reflection of the county's overall fiscal strength.

Moody's also awarded an overall Aa3 "issuer" rating to Lee County, saying "The county has no general obligation bonds outstanding, nor does it have any near term plans to issue such debt. The rating (is) based on the county's sound finances with good cash and fund balances, moderate debt position and well-performing economy." General obligation debt is bonds repaid with property tax pledges.

"Conservative budgeting has helped produce favorable budget-to-actual performance in the operating funds," Moody's said in a release. "…The county's current debt burden of 0.7% remains modest given the continuing growth in taxable resources."

Standard and Poor's added: "The county continues to maintain a solid financial position, closing the last four consecutive fiscal years in operating surpluses before transfers were included."

The Board of County Commissioners is expected to approve the selling of the $57-million of bonds at its meeting Tuesday (April 27). The Justice Center Expansion calls for a 150,000-square-foot addition to the Lee County Justice Center to be built on vacated Heitman Street with a pedestrian bridge to the SunTrust Building (now owned by the county) and Outdoor Plaza.

Lee County Government's total debt is about $1.2 billion (including the airport, which is a separate, self-supporting authority). Annual debt service (repayment of principal and interest) represents about 7 percent of appropriations. Standard & Poor's Rating Group, another of the major rating agencies, suggests that annual debt service should not exceed 10-to-15 percent of appropriations.

For more information about Lee County's debt, the Lee County Debt Manual is online at the county government's web site (www.lee-county.com) under the "Documents Online" section.