Maricopa received top marks from one of the nation’s biggest credit rating agencies.  

Fitch Ratings in New York City upgraded the city’s default rating last week from AA to AA+ — or a 9.6 on a scale of 10 — based on the city’s economic and residential growth, as well as its “budgetary flexibility.” This earned Maricopa the compliment of showing “financial resilience” from the agency. 

The city also maintained its AAA rating from the previous year on its general obligation bonds, the highest marks achievable. 

All of this means the credit rating agency found Maricopa to have a very high credit quality and a low risk of default. The AA+ rating also indicates the city has a “very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments” and “is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.” 

One of the main contributors to the city’s rating is its general fund reserve, which amounts to at least 7.5% of spending, according to Fitch.   

Factors that could threaten to lower future ratings include if that reserve dropped below 7.5%, a weakened city economy and slow population growth. Because anti-growth candidates lost in a municipal election July 30, the city’s top-tier rating lives another day. 

This continues a trend for Maricopa. In October, S&P Global awarded the city an AA+ rating for its $41 million revenue bond to fund capital improvement projects.  

At the time, the nationally recognized credit rating agency said the city’s “exponential economic growth” along with sales tax revenue trends and growth plans helped secure the favorable rating.