Moody's and S&P renews Oakland County's Aaa

Moody's Investors Service and Standard and Poor's have reaffirmed Oakland County's Aaa bond rating with a stable outlook on the day of County Executive L. Brooks Patterson's annual State of the County speech. Moody's and S&P have awarded their highest bond rating to Oakland County on $1.95 million Jacobs Drain Refunding Bonds, Series 2013 and $2.3 million Rewold Drain Refunding Bonds, Series 2013. Proceeds of the Jacobs Drain bonds will be used to refund outstanding Series 2005A bonds. Proceeds of the Rewold Drain bonds will be used to refund outstanding Series 2005 bonds. Both refunding bonds are expected to yield net present value interest cost savings. Moody's cited Oakland County's "solid financial operations supported by healthy reserves and strong fiscal management, additional liquidity available outside of the county's General Fund, and manageable debt profile" as among the reasons for awarding the county a Aaa rating. "The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the county will maintain its inherent strong credit characteristics going forward," Moody's said. "My State of the County speech talks about how the innovations of my budget team help to maintain our Aaa bond rating and save taxpayers millions of dollars," Patterson said. "Our latest Aaa from Moody's and S&P underscores that fact." The Jacobs Drain Refunding Bonds, Series 2013 and the Rewold Drain Refunding Bonds, Series 2013 will be sold February 13, 2013. The Rewold Drain Refunding Bond helps the City of Rochester Hills save significant interest costs. The Jacobs Drain Refunding Bonds will save West Bloomfield Township and Oakland County significant interest costs as well. Published: Mon, Feb 11, 2013