Moody’s Cuts New York MTA Rating After Tax Drops

The credit-rating company acted as Barclays Capital was set to price about $650 million of MTA transportation revenue bonds today. The pricing was postponed until tomorrow pending a response from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

Moody’s reduced the rating on the MTA’s transportation revenue bonds to A3, the fourth-lowest investment grade, with a stable outlook, from A2 with a negative outlook, the New York- based company said in a release. The decision affects $12.6 billion in such bonds, Moody’s said.

The state Division of Budget projected the MTA would get $1.32 billion from a so-called mobility tax on employers in the 12 counties served by the transit system, down from an estimate of $1.66 billion in December, MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said today. That number may change again when the state releases amendments to Governor David Paterson’s $134 billion budget on Feb. 9.

Paterson said today that New York’s budget gap next year will be 10 percent wider than projected two weeks ago because Wall Street cash bonuses are less than forecast.