Category - CreditScope

Infrastructure assets are long-lasting capital assets that add value to land and tend to be part of a larger system. Some common types of infrastructure assets are bridges, dams, tunnels, streets, sidewalks, water mains, and lighting systems. Infrastructure assets are accounted for under capital assets as either non-depreciable, depreciable or both. The approach for reporting infrastructure assets can vary from one government to another, as allowed by accounting standards. Infrastructure assets can be reported using the following approaches: Traditional Depreciation Approach -...

Category: Accounting, CreditScope

Merritt Research Services has recently acquired updated information related to the Generating Units detail included in the Power Info on the Credit Detail Screen for Retail Electric and Wholesale Electric credits. This data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a statistical agency housed under the U.S. Department of Energy. The following fields are available for Generating Units: GU ID, GU Name, Unit Code, Type, Source, Op Status, MW Nameplate, I.S. Year, MW Util-Owned, and %Util-Owned. A more detailed description for each of these fields is available by right- clicking...

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

We are happy to share the results of our continued efforts to improve the depth and breadth of our tax-backed offering. Effective this last month, we officially dropped the population threshold for inclusion to the standard data set to an even 40,000 for each of the three relevant sectors (City, County and School District). The effect of that movement yields an overall credit count increase of 36% for the year. Please look for this expanded dataset in your data update. To verify that your system has been appropriately updated, you may check under the [Help] button on the main menu and...

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

Merritt currently classifies utility credits into the following sectors: Retail Electric, Water/Sewer, Wholesale Electric, Gas, and Solid Waste. Retail Electric, Water/Sewer, and Wholesale Electric are considered to be a part of the Merritt Standard Sector offering. Records for utility credits are created in CreditScope based upon the pledged revenues on outstanding debt - a straightforward process when only one source of revenue is pledged. As its name implies, a combined utility provides more than one type of utility service. When a combined utility credit is backed by more than one...

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

The Merritt data included in CreditScope is updated at the end of every business week. Most people are winding down their work weeks by Friday afternoon, but not at Merritt Research Services. "Our week is winding up on Friday afternoon," according to Troy Gerleman, Chief Operating Officer of Merritt Research Services. Merritt sends the updated data to Investortools for processing over the weekend. The updated data is then delivered electronically to clients typically during business hours on Monday. Most company's IT departments will then integrate the data update into the system so that...

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

Merritt Research Services populates values in the Financial Data screen, which are then used to generate formulas and ratios designed to paint an accurate picture of a Credit's current financial condition. These calculations reflect liquidity, fiscal condition, working capital, leverage, coverage, and profitability. These formulas, ratios, and values that comprise them play an important role in credit analysis, but leave room for misinterpretation when considered out of context. The Notes contained within Audited Financial Statements often provide an abundance of information that may not be...

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

Merritt Research Services has been working diligently to increase the breadth of our credit coverage in key tax-backed sectors. We are pleased to announce an expanded version of our database - including information for over 1,500 additional standard tax-backed credits. Please look for this expanded dataset in your data update from the week of August 27, 2012. To verify that your system has been appropriately updated, you may check under the [Help] button on the main menu and select [About CreditScope]. Look for a "Credit data date" of 08/24/2012 or later.

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

A Primer on Merritt's Approach to Tax-Backed Debt Statements Generating consistent, accurate, and comparable financial information is of the utmost importance to Merritt Research Services. In order to achieve this goal, it is paramount that we clearly define each of our fields. Nowhere is this more important than the debt analysis section of the tax-backed sectors. These fields are often difficult to standardize due to the variations of presentation and the abundance of long term debt vehicles available to municipal issuers. Regardless of the presentation, the guidelines below should help...

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

The Current Portion of Long-Term Debt [CurPorLTD] field is populated with the scheduled principal payments for debt that is issued on a long-term basis - i.e., debt which is not due in its entirety within the next fiscal year. This field would also include any accelerated payments due to default or noncompliance. The Short-Term Debt field can be found in the database as [STD] for most revenue-backed sectors or [STDGov] for most tax-backed sectors. It is populated with short-term debt that is outstanding at fiscal year end. The field does not account for any short-term borrowings that were...

Category: CreditScope, Merritt Data

Demographic trends can paint a vivid picture of a state or local economy, often contributing to changes in a Credit's finances. The CreditScope database includes demographic data compiled from three sources: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the U.S. Census Bureau. Census Bureau information is comprised of the Decennial Census of Population and the American Community Survey (ACS), which "surveys a small percentage of the United States to produce yearly estimates on the nation's social, economic, and housing characteristics." Merritt is...

Category: CreditScope, Demographics, Merritt Data