Business

Bond raters upgrade Henderson County

By Bill Moss, Published: August 5, 2015

Two bond rating agencies have upgraded Henderson County’s bond rating ahead of the county's plans to borrow up to $30 million for the health sciences building.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Moody’s Investor Services evaluated the county's financial condition because it is preparing to borrow money for the construction of the 90,000-square-foot Allied Health Sciences Education Center, a joint project to be occupied by Wingate University, Blue Ridge Community College and Margaret R. Pardee Hospital.

S&P assigned a new rating of AA/Stable, an upgrade from the previous rating of AA-. S&P cited the county's "strong economy, strong management with good financial policies and practices, strong budgetary performance with operating surpluses being realized in the County’s General Fund, very strong budgetary flexibility with a significant percentage of fund balance available, very strong liquidity with the total amount of government cash available and a strong debt and contingent liability position with a rapid pay down or amortization of outstanding debt over the next 10 years."

Moody’s assigned a rating of Aa3 for the proposed bond issue, citing the county’s "large growing tax base, multiple years of surplus operations as a result of prudent management, healthy reserves and liquidity."