North Bend’s borrowing ability got a boost when the city’s bond rating was upgraded from A to AA during a recent analysis.

The city is in the process of issuing limited tax general obligation bonds; as part of that process the city pursued an underlying bond rating grade from the national rating agency.

The AA grade is a designation indicating high quality and improved the city’s previous “Medium Upper Grade” rating.

“This is great news,” said Mayor Ken Hearing. “This bond grade indicates that the city is very well-managed and has strong financial practices in place for the benefit of our taxpayers.”

The primary impact of the upgrade will be savings to the taxpayer. The rating allows the city to issue bonds at a lower interest rate and the savings can be passed on to the taxpayers.

The city received the bond rating based on strong financial policies and practices, strength of the local economy, sound finances and reserves, a small amount of outstanding General Obligation debt and good management practices.