McHenry County Government Maintains Moody's AAA Bond Rating For 11th Straight Year

Press release from the McHenry County Government:

WOODSTOCK, Ill. – McHenry County has once again been assigned the top Aaa bond rating by Moody’s Investors Service.

The Aaa bond rating – the highest possible rating that can be assigned to general obligation bonds – allows McHenry County government to borrow at a low rate because of its extremely high creditworthiness, which results in significant taxpayer savings. McHenry County is one of only three county governments in Illinois, and only 107 nationwide, to have the top bond rating, according to Moody’s.

County Board Chairman Mike Buehler credited McHenry County’s exceptional and consistent financial planning for maintaining the bond rating over the past decade and through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“McHenry County has a long and proud history of fiscal responsibility and accountability to our residents,” Buehler, R-Crystal Lake, said. “When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, we were able to weather the storm and extend a hand to assist our businesses that were struggling under restrictions by waiving fees. Now, we will ‘pay it forward’ by sending the majority of McHenry County’s $59.7 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to our residents and business owners so they can get back on their feet.”

Moody’s first awarded McHenry County the Aaa bond rating in 2010. McHenry County identified getting the top rating as an organizational goal in the early 2000s; it implemented a strong budget policy, debt policy, and cash reserve policy, and worked steadily in subsequent fiscal years to achieve the pinnacle rating.

“It speaks volumes about our sound, forward-thinking fiscal policy that we not only weathered a once-in-a-century pandemic, but also kept our Aaa bond rating,” Finance and Audit Committee Chairman Mike Skala, R-Huntley, said. “While the County Board approves the budget and sets fiscal policy, we couldn’t have done this without our talented and dedicated county staff that every year seeks out ways to do things more efficiently for less money.”

Taxpayers can visit McHenry County government’s financial dashboard at http://www.mchenrycountyil.gov/financialdashboard, which allows the public to review county revenues, expenses, and other financial data dating back to 2017. The county’s complete annual budget, dating back to FY 2009, can be found on the county website under the Finance Department.

McHenry County is on track to pay off the remaining debt this fiscal year for previous projects, meaning it will be completely debt-free.

This press release was produced by the McHenry County Government City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.