SCOTT COUNTY NEWS RELEASE
SCOTT COUNTY, IOWA RECEIVES CREDIT RATING UPGRADE

Moody’s Investor Services Upgrades Scott County to Aa1, second highest rating possible

NOVEMBER 4, 2015 DAVENPORT – On Monday November 2nd, 2015, Moody’s Investor Services upgraded Scott County, Iowa’s general obligation credit rating from Aa2 to Aa1, the second highest rating possible. The rating upgrade will allow the County to obtain lower interest rates on bond issuances and save taxpayers money.

“This is a major milestone for Scott County and continued validation of the progress we have made in strengthening the County’s finances over the last seven years,” said Tom Sunderbruch, Board of Supervisors chair.

Scott County requested the rating review from Moody’s as part of a bond financing to expand the current recycling center and equip it to allow for single stream collection on behalf of the Waste Commission of Scott County. The higher credit rating is expected to save the Waste Commission approximately $150,000 in interest cost over the life of the bonds, according to Springsted Incorporated, the County’s Municipal Advisor on the bond issuance.

Moody’s cited a number of factors for the credit rating upgrade in its report, including:

• Healthy financial operations and demonstrated ability to adjust operations to meet budgetary constraints.
• Modest debt levels that are expected to continue given an accumulation of designated reserves for future capital projects.
• Proactive management practices and annual budgets that are consistently balanced or produce a positive balance.

“Credit rating upgrades have been extremely rare both in Iowa and across the Country as local governments have struggled through the Great Recession and the slow recovery. The fact that Scott County was able to strengthen its finances during that period is very impressive and something they should be very proud of,” said Doug Green with Springsted Incorporated.

Thirty-six counties in Iowa currently have credit ratings with Moody’s. Scott County joins Story County and Dallas County as the only other counties in the state with Aa1 credit ratings. Only two counties in the state - Polk and Linn - are rated higher with an Aaa rating by Moody’s.

For more information on this press release, please contact:

Dee Bruemmer, County Administrator
Scott County Administration Office
600 W. 4th St.
Davenport, IA 52801
563-326-8702