As of September 30, 2007, total County debt outstanding is $966,182,000, which includes $137,625,000 in debt issued
by the Tampa Sports Authority and $307,635,000 in enterprise fund debt. The remainder includes $34,065,000 in
general obligation and limited ad valorem debt, and $486,857,000 in non-ad valorem revenue supported debt
including $53,932,000 in Tax-Exempt Commercial Paper.

The County’s enterprise fund, general obligation, and limited ad valorem tax debt continues to be “self supporting” in
that this debt is secured solely by pledges of enterprise revenue and ad valorem taxes which pay debt service on these
bonds. Furthermore, many of the non-enterprise, non-ad valorem revenue bonds are supported by revenues
specifically earmarked for such purpose. For example, bonds issued for Criminal Justice facilities are repaid with either
the State Shared Half-Cent Sales Tax, Community Investment Tax, or Court Fees.

Bonds issued to finance construction of the St. Pete Times Forum (a multi-purpose arena and home to the NHL
Lightning franchise) are repaid from the County’s 5th Cent of the Tourist Development Tax, which can only be used for
debt service on professional sports franchise facilities and for tourism marketing costs. Bonds issued to finance
construction of Raymond James Stadium, (home to the NFL Buccaneers) are repaid with Community Investment Tax
(CIT)¹

The County has significant debt capacity remaining and is in compliance with its anti-dilution test². However, in as
much as all County revenues are being used to either pay debt service or to fund County operations and reserves, any
use of County revenues to secure and pay additional debt could impact County operations unless additional revenue
sources are identified. One exception is the CIT revenue which was originally levied in fiscal year 1997 for 30 years
and may be used only for capital projects. Currently, the majority of future CIT revenue has been committed to
specific capital projects. Furthermore, the County expects that most of these projects will be debt financed.

The County has credit ratings on its debt from Moody’s Investors Service, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), and Fitch
Ratings. The County’s general credit rating was upgraded last December by S&P to “AAA” from “AA+”, which
represents the highest attainable credit rating. According to S&P, the upgrade reflects the County’s diverse economic
base, strong population, property tax base, healthy reserves, and strong management practices. Moody’s and Fitch
rate the County’s general credit “Aa1” and “AA+”, respectively. Both agencies recognize the County’s strong economic
growth and financial management as keys to the County’s superior creditworthiness. The rating agencies have
separately rated other bonds of the County which are secured by specific revenue pledges; those other ratings are
described later in this report.

In addition to these underlying ratings, many of the County’s bonds have also been insured by major bond insurance
providers including MBIA, AMBAC, FGIC and FSA. When insured, the County’s bonds have gained the highest rating
from all of the credit rating agencies rating these bonds thereby lowering the County ’s borrowing cost.

¹ This Sales Surtax was approved by referendum, and the proceeds are allocated among the Hillsborough County School Districts,
the County, and the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace, and Plant City pursuant to an interlocal agreement. The interlocal
agreement provides a specific allocation of revenues for debt service and certain other capital expenditures in connection with the
stadium.

² An Anti-Dilution test is computed with respect to debt secured by the County’s covenant to budget and appropriate from legally
available non-ad valorem revenues. This test measures the extent to which the County can use non-ad valorem revenues for
debt service on additional bonds in relation to general government services. The purpose of this test is to ensure that the County
does not excessively leverage its non-ad valorem revenues.