{"id":9481,"date":"2013-11-07T14:57:27","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T19:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=9481"},"modified":"2013-11-07T14:57:27","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T19:57:27","slug":"county-announces-repeat-of-triple-a-bond-ratings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=9481","title":{"rendered":"County announces repeat of Triple A bond ratings"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Commissioners say achievement bodes well for taxpayers<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Chester<\/a>

Chester County Commissioners Ryan Costello (from left), Terence Farrell, and Kathi Cozzone announced Thursday that the county has retained its Triple A bond ratings.<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0<\/b>Chester County Commissioners announced \u00a0the reaffirmation of Triple A bond ratings from Standard & Poor\u2019s, Fitch Ratings and an Aaa rating from Moody\u2019s Investors Service.<\/p>\n

News of the reaffirmed ratings came in the same week that the county presented its preliminary 2014 budget, which holds the line on taxes and also authorized the issuance of general obligation bonds, the primary purpose of which is to refinance existing debt, a county news release said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no more objective, comprehensive and validating measure of our excellent financial management than these ratings and the analysis underlying the ratings,\u201d Commissioners\u2019 Chairman Ryan Costello said. \u201cTriple-A ratings bring the interest rate associated with the cost of borrowing down significantly.\u00a0 To put this into context, with these high ratings, county taxpayers will save $1 million on the overall investment that is being made for the new Emergency Services voice radio communication system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Kathi Cozzone agreed, adding that school districts and municipal governments will also benefit. \u201cThe reaffirmed approvals keep Chester County in a select group of counties in the nation that have been awarded AAA ratings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The continued Triple-A ratings from all three agencies reflect Chester County\u2019s success in achieving and maintaining its strategic plan priority of smart financial management, the release said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county has an outstanding record of managing for results. The bond ratings came about, and have been maintained because of the county\u2019s management philosophy,\u201d said Commissioner Terence Farrell.<\/p>\n

According to Standard & Poor\u2019s, the AAA rating reflects Chester County\u2019s diverse employment base and strong budgetary flexibility and management. In re-confirming its Aaa, Moody\u2019s Investors Service noted the county\u2019s superior financial management and its solid financial operations supported by strong policy framework, as well as the county\u2019s large and diverse tax base. Fitch Ratings commented that key ratings drivers for its re-confirmation of the AAA included a healthy reserve position, manageable long-term liabilities, and strong reserve levels, the release said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese Triple-A ratings validate some of the proactive and creative approaches that we have taken in controlling costs, so that we can continue to provide the best services to our citizens,\u201d Chester County Chief Operating Officer Mark Rupsis.\u00a0 \u201cFor example, we have worked hard to minimize increases in employee medical benefit costs through our wellness initiative and bidding, and we have implemented programs that have resulted in energy savings for county government.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commissioners say achievement bodes well for taxpayers\u00a0 The\u00a0Chester County Commissioners announced \u00a0the reaffirmation of Triple A bond ratings from Standard & Poor\u2019s, Fitch Ratings and an Aaa rating from Moody\u2019s Investors Service. News of the reaffirmed ratings came in the same week that the county presented its preliminary 2014 budget, which holds the line on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[3487,705,1512,2367,1703,955,3488,954],"class_list":["post-9481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-chester-county-chief-operating-officer-mark-rupsis","tag-chester-county-commissioners","tag-commissioner-kathi-cozzone","tag-commissioner-terence-farrell","tag-commissioners-chairman-ryan-costello","tag-fitch-ratings","tag-moodys","tag-standard-poors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}