Moody's Investors Service said it has upgraded Polk County, Minn.'s general obligation rating to Aa2 from Aa3.
The county has $28.4 million of outstanding GO debt, of which $14.7 million is rated by Moody's.
The Aa2 GOULT rating reflects the county's solid fiscal management with healthy reserves, growing tax base within the Grand Forks (Aa2), N.D., metro area and a moderate degree of leverage from debt and pension obligations.
The rating could go up if there is substantial expansion of tax base and/or improvement in socioeconomic profile or a moderation of the county's debt burden and fixed costs.
The rating could go down based on imbalanced operations resulting in a material decline in reserves or significant tax base declines and/or weakening of the socioeconomic profile.
