From Harford County government:
Harford County Executive David R. Craig is pleased to announce that Harford County Government has earned the highest bond rating possible from all three major bond rating agencies.
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced today that it has upgraded Harford County to AAA. Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, which had upgraded the county in 2010, both reaffirmed their credit quality ratings of Aaa and AAA, respectively. In addition, each rating service said the County’s future outlook is “Stable.”
In a release announcing the upgrade of Harford’s rating, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services explained, “The rating reflects our assessment of the county’s very strong economy, liquidity, management, and budgetary flexibility and adequate budgetary performance and debt and contingent liabilities.”
“The stable outlook reflects our view of the county’s consistent financial performance, including during recessionary periods, and very strong economy, which is supported by its strong management,” the S&P announcement stated.
Harford County will be selling $40 million Consolidated Public Improvement Bonds, Series 2014 in a competitive sale on March 11, 2014.
Commenting on the credit upgrade, County Executive Craig stated, “This news is more than just an acknowledgement of our conservative fiscal policies and sound financial management. These top quality credit ratings keep our borrowing costs at the lowest possible levels, resulting in significant savings for the taxpaying citizens and businesses of Harford County.”
“We are thrilled with the AAA rating. This affects all of our citizens by keeping debt service costs low and demonstrating sound fiscal management,” said County Treasurer Kathryn Hewitt, CPA.
The Bond Sale will be held on Tuesday, March 11, 2014. For more information contact Kathryn Hewitt in the Treasury Department at 410-638-3314.
What a shame these rating agencies do not take into account inappropriate and suffocating allocation of funds within the system; if they did then Mr. Craig’s horrid treatment of HCPS would never have allowed our county to get AAA status. How Mr. Craig can be ‘pleased’ to announce this while not fulfilling his contractual obligation to teachers shows how rigged such ratings are towards the interests of the wealthy without any concern for the people that are being slighted by our county’s inept leadership…
George, get the facts! All you and any other people associated with HCPS want to do is rail against the County Exec. and County Council. You should direct your attention to the state which has been falling way behind in allocating their fair share of school funding to Harford County. State funding formulas send disproportionally more funds to certain jurisdictions than a jurisdiction like Harford. The board of ed reported this year that they will only receive about $900k in additional funding from the state over last years! $900k out of a $450million budget. So, let me get this right…. out of the $32 million or so additional money HCPS is looking for to fund next year’s budget, you expect the county to come up with $31million more…and you will settle for just $900k from the state? Where are you going to find $31million when the county has basically publicly stated they expect about 7-10 million more in additional revenue for next year at best. The numbers don’t add up. Folks on this damn site best get their heads out of their collective A@@@ and focus their attentions on the the fact that our kids are being slighted by the state and their discriminatory funding formulas. If you are so concerned, then you and other parents, teachers and the like should file a lawsuit against the state claiming discriminatory funding practices by the state. The county can only do so much when it comes to funding education. Education already makes up about half of the county budget. How much more $$ do you want at the expense of other county services. Perhaps one less snow plow for your street Mr…. or, lets just let the grass grow on the recreation fields. What neighborhood do you live in? Let’s close your local library branch and donate the proceeds to your precious education system. I am sick and tired of the winey misinformed faceless, cowards who consistently want to blame their problems on others. YOU KNOW NOTHING, and posts like yours just make you out to be the fool you really are.
I didn’t know the DAGGER was a “damn site.” I bet they appreciate knowing how you feel about them. Now I know why then rest of us can’t see anything – we’re trying to look through our rectal wall lining. I guess we don’t need to know anything after all. Especially since you seen to know everything. It seems that as much as you complain about others railing about county funding authorities you are doing exactly the same about state government. I happen to agree with some of what you’ve written but your self indulgent rant cost you any credibility with me.