OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term rating on Cook County School District No. 169 (Ford Heights), Ill. GO debt to 'BB+' from 'BBB'. The outlook is negative.

At the same time, we assigned our 'BB+' long-term rating to the district's series 2016 taxable general obligation (GO) school bonds (alternate revenue source).

The lowered rating reflects the district's increasing debt burden on a per-capita and a percentage-of-market-value basis, coupled with elevated carrying charges. The lowered rating also reflects our opinion that the debt service on the bonds will not match the time period that the district intends to use bond proceeds. We believe the district will continue to face uncertainties to business, financial and economic conditions. However, we believe the district currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments given its very strong level of reserves.

"The negative outlook reflects the district's continued reliance on market access to issue bonds, which support general fund operations and the lack of progress on returning to balanced operations," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Andrew Truckenmiller. "We understand that there is no specific timeframe for the district to return to balanced operations without the use of school funding bonds or transfers from other funds."