Montgomery County plans to competitively sell $64.7 million of general obligation bonds on Thursday.
Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s, and Moody’s Investors Service all assigned the deal triple-A ratings with stable outlooks.
Fitch’s rating “reflects Montgomery County’s broad and diverse economy, strong financial flexibility and reserve levels, and manageable debt levels with rapid amortization,” the agency said in a release.
The Washington, D.C., metro area, which includes the county, has been hit hard by the flagging housing market, with large increases in foreclosures and projected declining home prices over the next five years. The county estimates a $400 million budget gap for fiscal 2009, in part due to fewer sales of homes resulting in a 30% decline in transfer and recordation taxes in 2008.
However, “Fitch is confident that Montgomery County will adopt a balanced budget in fiscal 2009, in spite of currently projected deficits,” the agency said.
