“Very strong” fiscal management won Stafford County a coveted general obligation bond rating upgrade to triple-A from Standard & Poor’s.
Stafford Board of Supervisors Chairman Gary Snellings and Supervisor Bob Thomas, chairman of the Finance, Audit and Budget Committee, led a delegation to New York City to meet with Standard & Poor’s just before the July Fourth holiday.
“In their report, S&P stated they raised our bond rating because of ‘our maintenance of strong budgetary performance and very strong reserves supported by very strong management conditions through the recent economic recession,'” said Stafford County Administrator Anthony Romanello.
“The Board of Supervisors adopted strict financial policies that include maintaining a balanced budget, borrowing money only for capital projects, maintaining prudent reserves, estimating revenues conservatively and increasing cash funding of capital projects to reduce our reliance on debt,” Romanello said. “S&P’s rating today validates all these.”
Only four percent of counties nationwide have earned the S&P triple-A rating; 23 localities in the Commonwealth, he said.
The rating will allow the county to borrow money at lower interest rates.
Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC is an American financial services company. It is a division of McGraw Hill Financial, which publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds.
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