City of Arlington , Texas Fiscal Year 2020 continue until sound solutions to the shortfall can be identified . Reserves were not needed to balance FY20 . The total reserve amount adopted in the FY21 Budget is $ 50.71 million , or 20.7 % of the City ’ s General Fund budget , net of one-time expenditures . This amount is approximately $ 13.94 million in excess of the 15.0 % overall reserve level specified in our Financial Principles .
Bond Rating
Moody ’ s , Standard & Poors and Fitch rate our credit-worthiness and they consider our reserves as one of our strongest assets . All three agencies affirmed Aa1 / AAA / AAA ratings for the Permanent Improvement Bonds , Certificates of Obligation , Municipal Drainage Utility System Revenue Bonds ( Stormwater ), and the Water and Wastewater System Revenue bonds . These strong ratings allow us to issue municipal debt vital to the City ’ s infrastructure at a very low cost to the City . The Special Tax Revenue Bonds for the Venues ( AT & T Stadium and Globe Life Field ) have been rated A1 / A + / AA + by Moody ’ s , Standard & Poors and Fitch respectively .
Debt
During FY20 , the City took advantage of the low cost of borrowing and issued $ 48.3 million in Permanent Improvement
and Refunding Bonds , $ 174.7 million in Pension Obligation Bonds , and $ 9.2 million in Certificates of Obligation , to make various capital improvements . The City issued $ 5.2 million in Water and Wastewater System Revenue and Refunding Bonds ( WWS ) for the purposes of improving and expanding existing water and wastewater infrastructure and refunding debt for cost savings . The City issued $ 23.4 million in Municipal Drainage Utility System Revenue and Refunding Bonds ( Stormwater ) for the purpose of improving and expanding existing drainage infrastructure and refunding debt for cost savings . During the year , the City paid down principal of $ 43.5 million of outstanding Permanent Improvement Bonds and Certificates of Obligation , $ 28.7 million of outstanding WWS bond , and $ 15.1 million of outstanding Stormwater bonds .
Awards
The City continued to be recognized for its outstanding financial reporting efforts . In 2017 , the City of Arlington Finance Department was proud to announce that it is only the third local government entity in the state to receive all five transparency stars through the Texas Comptroller ’ s transparency program . The Comptroller ’ s office launched the Transparency Stars program in March 2016 to recognize cities , counties and school districts making strides to greater government transparency by providing easy online access to important financial data . The City of Arlington has earned stars for transparency in Traditional Finances , Contracts and Procurement , Economic Development , Public Pensions and Debt Obligations .
We again received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for our 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report , the Certificate for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting for our 2019 document and the Distinguished Budget Award for our 2020 budget from the Government Finance Officers Association . We also received our 17 th consecutive Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award from the National Procurement Institute , Inc .
Priorities
Each year , the City Council identifies community priorities that guide us in allocating the City ’ s resources . Council met at a strategic retreat in the spring of 2019 and chose to keep the following priorities for FY20 :
• Enhance Regional Mobility
• Invest in Our Economy
• Support Our Youth and Families
• Champion Great Neighborhoods
• Put Technology to Work
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