Harford County held its annual bond sale on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, borrowing funds for essential public infrastructure at a low 3.3% interest rate,
thanks to the county’s AAA bond rating.
Harford sold $110 million in AAA-rated consolidated public improvement bonds to the winner among 11 bidders. The bonds will be paid back over 20 years. The county also refunded $44.6 million in existing 2015 bonds at a lower rate of 2.3%, saving $1.5M over the prior debt service.
Proceeds from the new bonds will help finance the following projects (among others):
- New Riverside Fire & EMS station
- New Homestead Wakefield Elementary School
- New Harford Academy and elementary school project northeast of Bel Air
- Harford Technical High School’s renovation
- Harford Community College’s Chesapeake Welcome Center
- Systemic HVAC renovation at Aberdeen Middle School
Harford is one of fewer than 2% of counties nationwide with the top AAA bond rating from all three major independent bond-rating agencies: Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s. The top ratings reduce the cost of borrowing when bonds are sold to pay for priority capital projects.
“Harford’s strong fiscal management and our elimination of an inherited $90M structural deficit resulted in our maintaining the highest possible bond ratings. This is important because it allowed us to borrow funds for essential projects at lower rates than counties rated below AAA, saving taxpayer money,” County Executive Bob Cassilly said. “I would like to thank our financial advisors, our bond counsel, and my treasury, economic development and budget teams, and all county employees for helping us achieve these outstanding results for our citizens and taxpayers.”
