County Maintains Its Aa Bond Rating Designation Saves Taxpayers Interest On Long-Term Bonds

A strong economy and a tight belt allowed Spokane County government to retain its stellar Wall Street bond rating.

Associates with Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investor Service, the industry bench marks, recently awarded the county another double-A rating.

The rating saves taxpayers millions of dollars a year in interest on projects financed with long-term bonds.

Marshall Farnell, county budget and finance director, recently returned from San Francisco, where he pitched the county’s frugality and fiscal health.

He told of the huge Spokane Valley Mall that will open next year and of revitalization efforts in Spokane’s downtown business core.

Farnell said he also talked up the new Spokane Arena and other public building projects.

“All of the projects we’ve done in the past have been well-received,” Farnell said. “They’ve been on time and on budget. We’re not a rich county; we’re not a poor county.

“I think we manage our revenues within the resources we have.”

The county’s bond rating was threatened as its reserve fund - or savings account - dropped to half a million dollars last year.

But Farnell forecasts $1.2 million in the rainy-day fund by the end of this year, fueled by a slight increase in sales tax revenues. County commissioners also have frozen most vacant jobs and cut expenses.

The county must meet each year with the Wall Street investment managers, who opened San Francisco offices a few years ago, to convince them of the county’s solvency.

Phil Harris, chairman of the county commissioners, credited Farnell for swaying the Wall Street investment types. “Eighty percent of that is presentation and the person doing it,” he said.

, DataTimes