Queen Anne’s County (QAC) has now received the highly coveted AAA bond rating from two of the three major ratings agencies. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has granted the county the highest possible rating, following FitchRating’s lead, which elevated its bonding rating to AAA last year.

The third rating agency, Moody’s, has upgraded the county from Aa2 to Aa1 – just one step below AAA.

County Commissioner Jack Wilson said,

This is great news for the county taxpayers as it will reduce the debt service on existing county debt and allow for a lower lending rate in the future for any Capital needs that may arise. I am very happy to be a part of a commission that was able to achieve this stature for the first time in county history. We will continue to exercise fiscal policy that will maintain this rating.

Commissioner Mark Anderson said:

The efforts of the QAC Commissioners, who have collectively employed a consistent and conservative fiscal policy over three plus years, has been rewarded by all three bond rating agencies, each of which recognized the management of the county’s finances with Fitch renewing the AAA, with S & P upgrading us to AAA, and Moody’s upgrading us to Aa1 – a step below AAA. The S&P AAA rating follows the same rating from Fitch (two years in a row) will save many thousands of dollars because our county will be viewed as the safest investment for bond purchasers. These interest savings will take pressure off the operating budget and the necessity to raise real property taxes.

Commissioner Robert C. Buckey stated,

S&P based their decision on the county’s very strong economic profile, and strong budgetary flexibility. … This was a team win. The AAA ratings will help lower the cost of borrowing for Queen Anne’s County’s government in the future and that is great news for the county, and the taxpayers and residents.