Dutchess County’s Bond Refinancing Nets Greater than Projected Savings for Taxpayers
Poughkeepsie, NY… Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro announced Dutchess County Government realized more than the $159,000 in additional savings for taxpayers from its recent refinancing of existing Dutchess County bonds originally issued in 2004 and 2006. Total savings for taxpayers over the next 13 years will total more than $956,000, well above the $797,000 in savings originally estimated.
“Dutchess County Government bonds are highly sought after, thanks to our impressive AA+ bond rating, which is one of the highest Standard & Poor’s ratings in New York State for county governments,” said County Executive Molinaro. “Thanks to the diligent work of Commissioner of Finance Heidi Seelbach and Budget Director Valerie Sommerville and the entire county finance team, we were able to take advantage of opportune market timing to deliver even more savings to our taxpayers.”
Last week, Standard & Poor’s had reaffirmed Dutchess County Government’s strong AA+ bond rating in advance of the bond issuance, making the bonds very attractive to investors in the marketplace. There is only one county statewide with a higher S&P bond rating. In reaffirming the high bond rating, Standard & Poor’s noted the strong economy, strong county government management and budgetary performance and flexibility as well as Dutchess County Government’s very strong debt and contingent liability profile. Standard & Poor’s rating rationale can be found here:
Standard & Poor’s also qualified its ratings for Dutchess County government with a “stable” outlook, reflecting the strengths noted in the report. The stable outlook reflects Standard & Poor’s view that “the county’s consistently strong performance enhances stability.” The report noted even with anticipated jail construction, Standard & Poor’s does not expect the AA+ bond rating to change. The report went on to note that “sustainable improvement in local economic indicators and management’s ability to maintain strong operating results and reserves despite additional costs associated with the jail project over the medium term could result in a higher rating.”
County Executive Molinaro concluded, “We continue to be aggressive in our efforts to find savings for our taxpayers. Thanks to the work we have done together to build such a strong credit rating and provide fiscal stability for county government, we are able to deliver even greater savings to taxpayers.”
