Howard County, Maryland, has taken advantage of its recently affirmed AAA credit ratings from all three ratings agencies, selling just over $200 million in consolidated public improvement, metropolitan district and refunding bonds.
The county’s top credit rating earned the bond sale an interest rate that was nearly 0.5% lower than the previous year, a rate which the county says will save taxpayers $1.9 million in interest payments on the refunding bonds.
The bonds will repay funding for projects that include school construction and road expansion.
Howard County is one of only 43 counties in the country with a triple-A credit rating from all three ratings agencies.
Montgomery County, Maryland’s triple-A ratings from all three agencies was affirmed last fall.
Surrounding counties — including Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William in Virginia, and Prince George’s in Maryland — also have all triple-A ratings from the three agencies.
Last July, the District itself made Wall Street history, when Moody’s Investors Service assigned its top AAA credit rating to the District’s outstanding general obligation bonds, the first time in history the District has achieved a triple-A rating.
