Moore County’s bond rating has been upgraded. During the May 2018 primary, Moore County voters approved $103 million General Obligation Bonds for Moore County Schools which will primarily be used to build three new elementary schools.
The bond rating improvement comes in advance of the planned second issuance of $34 million in GO bonds for the Area III Southern Pines Elementary school project which will be an 800 student K-5 school and will replace the two existing Southern Pines school campuses.
Moore County leadership feels the rating improvement is well deserved and is very appreciative of the Moody’s Investors Service recognition of Moore County’s many strengths and positive attributes.
Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Moore County’s general obligation unlimited tax rating to ‘Aa1’ from ‘Aa2’. Concurrently, Moody’s has assigned an ‘Aa1’ rating to the County’s $34 million General Obligation Schools Bonds, Series 2019A. They also upgraded to ‘Aa2’ from ‘Aa3’ the rating on the County’s outstanding limited obligation annual appropriation debt.
At the same time S&P Global Ratings assigned an ‘AA+’ rating to the County’s Series 2019 General Obligation (GO) bonds.
The outlook for all ratings is stable.
The upgrade will help to broaden the investor base for the county’s debt and should help lower the county’s cost of borrowing. It also reflects management’s willingness to support the debt with additional resources as needed, such as the one-fourth cent sales tax that the voters approved in November 2018, as well as a potential property tax increase in fiscal year 2020.
For the full report, visit www.moorecountync.gov.
Courtesy photo of ground breaking ceremony at Aberdeen’s newest school. The school, which is scheduled for completion in early 2020, will combine Aberdeen Elementary and Aberdeen Primary Schools.
