Prince George’s County Maintains Coveted Triple-A Bond Rating
Dear Prince Georgians:
Today, I am excited to announce that Prince George’s County has once again maintained our coveted triple-A bond rating. All three financial ratings agencies, Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard and Poor’s, recently provided their yearly evaluations and have given the County another triple-A bond rating, as well as a stable economic outlook.
We are also pleased with the reasons behind the high ratings from the financial institutions. Overall, our ongoing economic development that expects to add to the commercial tax base, along with our history of sound fiscal responsibility and well-embedded financial management policies and practices, were cited as reasons the County maintained the highest rating possible. I am especially proud that we have maintained a triple-A rating during every year of our Administration, with this latest rating being the fifth consecutive year.
Moody’s report cited the County’s “large and growing tax base, with ongoing development expected to add significantly to the tax rolls in the near term,” as reasons for the triple-A rating. In addition, Moody’s noted that the stable economic outlook “also considers the county’s financial position and overall leverage, which are expected to remain satisfactory in the near term, supported by comprehensive fiscal policies.”
Standard and Poor’s report noted that “Prince George's County has a history of maintaining strong financial performance, although operating results dipped a bit during fiscal 2020 as the county worked to maintain service levels during the COVID-19 pandemic; in subsequent years, operations rebounded spurred by strong revenue growth, particularly in income taxes and transfer and recordation taxes, as well as lower-than-expected expenses. Although we understand income taxes are expected to decline slightly in fiscal 2024, we expect the county's overall financial position to remain strong given its history of conservative budgeting and well-embedded financial management policies and practices.”
Finally, Fitch’s report cited “the strength of the county's operating performance, which features a high capacity to manage operational and budgetary risks through economic cycles, expectations for solid revenue growth underpinned by the county’s economic and demographic profile and high independent revenue raising authority.”
Although we navigated several challenges during our budget cycle earlier this year, this rating is the latest sign that our focus on transit-oriented development to grow the commercial tax base will help secure our County’s long-term financial success. We will continue moving forward with our economic growth strategy and fiscal discipline in our budget so we can maintain our County’s stable economic outlook.
This announcement of our triple-A bond rating is especially timely as I prepare to give my annual State of the Economy Address tomorrow, June 14. The Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation and Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable host the State of the Economy event every year to highlight the County’s economic development accomplishments and vision for the next year.
I’m excited to join residents and business leaders from across the County to share the incredible progress we have made to grow our economy over the past year, and to lay out our vision for continued smart growth in Prince George’s. Prince Georgians will be able to tune in to my State of the Economy Address live at 8:30 AM via our Facebook page here. We will also post a recording of the address on our YouTube page here.
I encourage everyone to tune in virtually tomorrow morning as we discuss the progress we continue to make to move our County forward.
Yours in service,
Angela Alsobrooks
Prince George’s County Executive
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