Wicomico County Executive John Psota last week announced that two major credit rating agencies affirmed the County’s strong bond ratings. Moody’s affirmed the County’s Aa2 rating, while Standard and Poor’s affirmed its AA+/Stable rating.
“I am very pleased the rating agencies have confirmed that the County continues to progress and move forward,” said County Executive Psota. “Our strong staff along with adherence to financial best practices should continue to generate strong credit ratings.”
According to a Wicomico County press release:
Moody’s affirmed its Aa2 rating and commented: “The Aa2 rating is based on the county’s strong financial position supported by recent and projected surplus operations and management’s adherence to formalized fiscal policies. The rating also incorporates the county’s large tax base with average resident wealth and income indices, and manageable debt and pension liabilities.”
Standard & Poor’s continued its AA+/Stable rating citing: “The rating reflects our opinion of the following factors for the county: the county’s position as the regional hub for the Delmarva Peninsula, with a stable and growing, yet still rural economy, primarily anchored in agribusiness; historically strong financial performance couple with the maintenance of very strong reserves, well-above formal fiscal policies; and strong financial policies and practices under our Financial Management Assessment (FMA) methodology.”
Wicomico County’s 2021 bond sale will take place on December 7, 2021 with closing on the transactions scheduled for December 21, 2021. Wicomico County’s bond issue includes funding for the Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Building, the Board of Education’s renovation/addition project at Mardela High/Middle School, Landfill Cell Construction, Wor-Wic Community College Applied Technology Building, among other capital project needs.
