Bucks County Receives AAA Credit Rating

The Bucks County Commissioners’ Office announced that the county’s credit rating has been upgraded from AA+ to AAA by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services. Standard & Poor’s based their decision on the county’s “very strong economic profile, very strong budgetary flexibility and a strong management team.”

With the April 2010 upgrade to Aaa by Moody’s Investor Service, the county now has AAA ratings from two of the largest credit rating agencies in the country. Bucks County is one of three AAA rated counties in the state, and is among a select group of counties in the country that have two AAA ratings, according to a statement from the Commissioners’ Office.

When announcing the news, Brian Hessenthaler, COO stated, “This has been a multi-year effort to get here, and we would like to thank the Commissioners, Division Leaders, Department Heads, Row Officers, and Courts for all their work and dedication.” He added that Director of Finance and Administration David Boscola took the lead and did a great job securing the upgraded rating.

“This is a significant achievement that doesn’t happen overnight,” stated Commissioner Chairman Robert Loughery. “It’s been a process; its sticking with discipline and procedures and policies we have put into place. We were ecstatic when we received the AAA rating from Moody’s and always thought Standard and Poor’s would stay as it was. But we proved that wrong, and that is great news for the county, and the taxpayers and residents of Bucks County.”

In their report S & P cited the strong local economy with a diverse property tax base, dedicated county management, solid financial practices and budgeting procedures that take into account short-term and long term challenges and conservative investment policies as being key factors in the change in rating. The report also noted the budgetary flexibility of the county, with available reserves at 23.8 percent of operating expenses, a number that is budgeted to slightly increase by the end of the fiscal year.

With 37 percent of total government funds expenditures and 5.3 percent debt service coverage, S & P considers Bucks County to have strong liquidity, having a good access to capital markets if necessary. Between the liquidity and the manageable debt profile, S & P sees the continuation of the AAA rating very likely.