Wicomico County sold $16,675,000 in bonds at competitive bid on December 4th. These bonds will finance school construction projects at James M. Bennett Senior High School and Prince Street School. There were eight bidders, with bids ranging from 3.828% to 3.888%. The award was to Davenport & Company, LLC, the low bidder.
The sale came after a successful trip to New York City to meet with the three leading bond rating agencies. Following the sessions, Wicomico County retained its high bond ratings. The county received an outlook upgrade from “stable” to “positive” from Fitch Ratings.
Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings both rated the County’s bonds at A+; Moody’s Investors Service continued its rating of A2. All three ratings are considered strong, and all three entities also affirmed their ratings on previous issues. The rating agencies cited the following rationale behind their affirmative decisions on Wicomico County’s status:
· Sound financial performance
· Conservative financial management
· Healthy reserve levels
· Low debt burden and rapid payoff
· Diversified and stable economic base.
Offsetting these positive indicators, the rating agencies expressed concern about the recent budget restructuring on the state level and the possible impact of that on County operations.
“I am very pleased with the results of our bond sale,” said Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr. “It was clear that the rating agencies felt Wicomico County was managing its financial affairs well, and that is reflected in our solid ratings and the excellent interest rate we got on the sale.”
1 comment:
Wanna bet what that bond rating would be if those hotshots at Moody's and S&P lived here?
Post a Comment