The Fairfax County government’s AAA ratings for general-obligation debt have been affirmed by the nation’s three major bond-rating houses, which looked at the government’s financial condition ahead of a Jan. 24 sale of debt.
The county government successfully sold $350 million in bonds, designed to fund the following areas:
• Schools – $205 million
• Transportation – $68.74 million
• Public Safety – $35.26 million
• Parks and Parks Facilities – $28 million
• Public Library Facilities – $5 million
• Human Services and Community Development Facilities – $8 million
“There were five bidders for the county’s bonds, and this number of bids underscores strong support for the county’s bond offerings and credit ratings,” county officials said. “The county’s annual January general-obligation bond sale remains an opportune time to sell with high demand and lower-than-average supply of municipal bonds.”
AAA-rated bonds have a high degree of creditworthiness because their issuers are easily able to meet financial commitments and have the lowest risk of default.
The county has held a AAA rating from Moody’s since 1975, Standard and Poor’s since 1978 and from Fitch Ratings since 1997. Fairfax is among 13 states, 49 counties and 31 cities that have a AAA bond rating from all three major rating agencies.
Projects to be supported by the bond sale were approved by voters in various referendums.
“We followed the will of the voters and sold bonds that will improve our schools, continue to build out our multi-model transportation system, and improve public safety, parks, libraries and other critical county infrastructure,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, who said that the top rating has enabled the county to save more than $1 billion in interest payments over the past 45 year, compared to localities with lower ratings.
