From Harford County government:
Harford County has retained its Triple-A bond rating from all three of the nation’s major independent bond-rating agencies. Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch have each reaffirmed their highest possible rating for Harford County, citing the county administration’s “very strong” management and healthy local economy. Triple-A bond ratings reduce the cost of borrowing to fund capital projects such as school buildings, road improvements and stormwater management projects. Harford County is among an estimated 2% of counties nationwide to earn the top rating from all three major rating agencies.
Announcing its latest rating decision, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services wrote, “We view the county’s management as very strong, with strong financial policies and practices …”
Fitch wrote: “The county proved its financial resilience and strong budget management through the most recent recession by making reductions in operating and capital spending.”
Moody’s Investors Service cited Harford County’s “conservative budgeting practices.”
All three rating agencies noted what Standard & Poor’s called a “broad and diverse” local economy.
“I am proud that all three rating agencies have affirmed Harford County’s highest possible bond rating as a reflection of my administration’s strong fiscal management,” County Executive Barry Glassman said. “I would like to thank my budget and finance team and all county employees for their good stewardship of taxpayer funds for the benefit of our citizens and Harford County’s next generation.”
So despite racking up over $12,000 per day in interest on the $45.4 million judgment against the County that was handed down last April in the Gravel Hill Rubblefill case (which would now be up to $48.3 million with interest) and despite the $10 million discrimination lawsuit that was filed in late 2017 when the Glassman administration decided to change the permitting rules mid-way through a residential building project after learning that many of the interested buyers were Muslim…
…the bond rating agencies are still giving Harford County a AAA bond rating?
Makes you wonder how thorough the rating agencies are in their analyses…
They need the credit rating to borrow the money in order to pay off the settlements.
Mike, that’s an interesting rewrite of history:
“… after learning that many of the interested buyers were Muslim” is a creative way of saying what actually happened, i.e., “… after learning that the developer was only marketing to Muslims.”
Thats good…..after all that $40+ Million dollar lawsuit is probably going to take some borrowing.
The developer wasn’t marketing to anyone… they exited the picture when they sold to the first builder @2006. The current builder wasn’t marketing either. The Muslim group that approached and contracted with the builder hired a real estate agent to market the homes to their members.
Gets us back to the same point… when the County found out that Muslims wanted to buy the properties, they changed the rules. And got sued.
Degrees of separation producing the same result. The developer, the Muslim group, and the real estate agent are all complicit.
Can someone tell me if Harford County Public Schools does pre-hire drug testing?
Of course they do, but what does that have to do with this article or to any of the responses from the commenters in this article? Maybe you should be tested for drugs….
My question has absolutely nothing to do with this article.
Since when has the internet ever had on topic, organization?
I stand corrected. 90% don’t get tested, but they have to pass the CORI background check. A CORI is an in depth criminal history test.
@Mike Perrone: No they don’t , unless there was a very recent change. Fingerprinting is mandatory, however.