Fitch Affirms Bastrop, Texas' GOs at 'A+'; Outlook Stable

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
In the course of routine surveillance, Fitch Ratings has affirmed
the 'A+' rating on approximately $4.5 million in outstanding general
obligation (GO) bonds issued by Bastrop, Texas (the city). The Rating
Outlook is Stable.

The 'A+' rating reflects the city's sound financial position
evidenced by healthy fund balances in the face of growth pressures and
the city's ongoing economic development. However, credit concerns
include the vulnerability of sales taxes to economic fluctuations, the
largest source of general fund revenues, continued dependence on
subsidies from the city's utility system, and relatively high direct
and overlapping debt levels considering its limited economy. The
Stable outlook reflects Fitch's expectations that Bastrop's proximity
to Austin will help it maintain strong taxable assessed valuation and
sales tax growth, and that its conservative financial planning and
limited plans for future debt issuance will keep the relatively high
debt levels manageable.

Fitch issued an exposure draft on July 31, 2008 proposing a
recalibration of tax-supported and water/sewer revenue bond ratings
which, if adopted, may result in an upward revision of this underlying
rating (see Fitch research 'Exposure Draft: Reassessment of the
Municipal Ratings Framework').

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings
are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com.
Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this
site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality,
conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other
relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of
Conduct' section of this site.

Fitch Ratings
Jaissy Lorenzo, +1-212-908-9167
William Drake Richey, +1-212-908-0325
Cindy Stoller, +1-212-908-0526 (Media Relations)

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