Houston’s credit outlook has taken a hit after residents earlier this month voted to pay firefighters the same as city police officers.
Fitch Ratings this week downgraded the city’s credit outlook from “stable” to “negative,” saying the anticipated $100 million annual cost of the Proposition B charter amendment will hamper the city’s spending ability and could lead to a downgrade in the its AA bond ratings in the future. Such a downgrade would mean higher borrowing costs and further squeeze the city’s budget. Mayor Sylvester Turner and the city’s firefighters have spent months warring over the impact of Proposition B, but the Fitch analysis marks the first time an independent arbiter has weighed in.
After Fitch Ratings released its assessment on Thursday, Turner portrayed the analysis as a validation of past warnings he has issued about the impacts of the proposition, even as city firefighters again accused him of “vindictively punishing” them.