Greene County has recently embarked upon the sale of bonds to pay the upfront cost of building water and sewer improvements. Today they learned that two agencies have awarded their second highest ratings, decreasing interest rates for the projects.
On September 9, the Board of Supervisors agreed to sell $43.5 million in water and sewer bonds. A next step was to obtain ratings from Wall Street agencies, a key step in establishing the full cost of paying the debt back over time.
According to an information release sent out today, Moody’s assigned a Aa2 rating and Standard and Poor’s Global assigned a AA rating.
“In addition to assigning the County’s underlying ratings, Moody’s and S&P have assigned the 2025 Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds Aa3 and AA- ratings, respectively,” reads the press release.
Once those are issued and finalized, the total debt load by the county will total around $92 million according to a press release from Moody’s Ratings.
“The Aa2 issuer rating reflects Greene County’s strong financial position and growing local economy with above average income and wealth,” reads the release. “The county is seeing substantial residential development driven by its proximity to the growing Charlottesville (Aaa) economy and Rivanna Station, home to the expanding National Ground Intelligence Center..”
S&P Global’s information release sounded a similar note.
“ The rating reflects Greene County’s positive and stable financial profile, supported by three consecutive years of surplus net results driven by strong revenue growth in the county,” reads the S&P Global release. “The county will likely see economic development opportunities come to fruition in the medium to longer term, supporting its economic profile and potentially translating into additional tax revenue that could support future budgets.”
Greene County Administrator Cathy Schafrik said having high bond ratings will have two benefits.
“It directly reduces the cost of public borrowing and simultaneously serves as an independent validation to citizens that their money is being managed responsibly and predictably,” the release quotes Schafrik.
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