Press Release|Public Finance
KBRA Assigns AAA Rating, Stable Outlook to DASNY State Personal Income Tax Revenue Bonds (General Purpose) Series 2026A (Tax-Exempt) and Series 2026B (Federally Taxable)
6 Mar 2026 | New York
KBRA assigns a long-term rating of AAA with a Stable Outlook to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) State Personal Income Tax Revenue Bonds (General Purpose) Series 2026A (Tax-Exempt) and Series 2026B (Federally Taxable). Concurrently, KBRA affirms the AAA rating and Stable Outlook on outstanding State Personal Income Tax Bonds (General Purpose) issued by DASNY and by the New York State Thruway Authority.
Key Credit Considerations
The rating actions reflect the following key credit considerations:
Credit Positives
- Provisions of the PIT Enabling Act and the importance of residual PIT revenues to fund State operations mitigate the risk of legislative non-appropriation or a failure to pay financing agreement payments when due after amounts have been appropriated and set aside in the RBTF.
- RBTF Receipts provide ample historical and projected coverage of maximum annual debt service.
- The 2.0x additional bonds test and essentiality of surplus PIT revenues mitigate against overleveraging.
Credit Challenges
- PIT receipts, particularly the non-withholding component, are inherently volatile and closely correlated to the income of wealthy residents and financial sector performance. The share of PIT receipts related to net capital gains is significant.
- PIT receipts are disproportionately generated by the State’s highest-earning taxpayers. The potential exists for continued outmigration of this component of the PIT revenue base.
- Financing agreement payments are subject to annual appropriation and executory only to the extent of amounts available in the RBTF. The potential for a diversion in the flow of RBTF Receipts in the event of a budgetary delay or severe fiscal distress, while not non-existent, is extremely remote, in KBRA’s view.
Rating Sensitivities
For Upgrade
- N/A
For Downgrade
- A trend of declining debt service coverage that approaches the 2.0x ABT level.
- Failure by the State Legislature to annually appropriate financing agreement payments.
- State actions to amend, repeal or alter statutes relating to the Personal Income Tax (Articles 22, 24 and 24-A of the Tax Law), or the State Personal Income Tax Revenue Bond Financing Program that negatively impact revenues available for financing agreement payments.
To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.