Salisbury, MD … Acting County Executive John D. Psota announced today that two of the major national credit rating agencies have affirmed Wicomico County’s strong credit ratings.
Moody’s affirmed its Aa2 rating and commented: “that current reserves mark an all-time high for the County. The county’s current position is some of the strongest in the State and has been generated through active management of operations. The rating also incorporates the County’s large tax base with average resident wealth and income indices, and manageable debt, pension and OPEB 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; track record of strong financial performance, coupled with the maintenance of very strong reserves, well-above formal fiscal policies, strong financial policies under our Financial Management Assessment methodology and moderate debt and liability profile following this issuance, with manageable debt issuances projected over the next two-to-three years as well as manageable retirement costs.”
Acting County Executive John D. Psota commented “having these very strong credit ratings affirmed, along with the exemplary comments from both rating agencies, is clear evidence of our focused commitment to sound financial management of the County’s resources and will directly result in our ability to generate very competitive interest rates as we go to the bond market later this month. I congratulate and thank the County’s dedicated staff for their loyal adherence in applying best financial practices which have resulted in this announcement.”
Wicomico County’s 2022 bond sale will take place on October 18, 2022 with closing on the transactions scheduled for November 1, 2022. Wicomico County’s bond issue includes funding for the Board of Education’s renovation/addition project at Mardela High/Middle School, Wor-Wic Community College Applied Technology Building and projects at the Salisbury-Wicomico Airport, among other capital project needs.
