S&P Upgrades La Plata County’s Credit Rating to A+

Durango, CO: Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services raised its underlying rating on La Plata County’s certificates of participation (COPs) from “A” to “A+” based on the county’s good financial management and continued increases of surplus money into its general fund. The rating reflects the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) assessment of the County’s annual appropriation of lease payments and general creditworthiness.

The COPs are for the County’s purchase of the historic Old Main Post Office Building in the central business district of downtown Durango, which was purchased by the County in July 2004 for $3,190,000 and financed with COPs to be repaid over ten years at an average of 3.87% interest.

S&P reported, “The County’s financial performance has been very strong in our opinion. Three consecutive years of operating surpluses increased the unreserved general fund balance to $40.1 million or 116.0% of expenditures in fiscal 2010.” The stable outlook is based on their view of good management of the County’s property tax base, as well as La Plata’s continuation of strong overall financial performance, sales tax gains, and fund balances that exceed the county’s stated targets.

The County’s management practices are considered “good’ under S&P’s financial management assessment (FMA). An FMA of “good” indicates that practices exist in most areas, although not all may be formalized or regularly monitored by governance officials.

“I am very pleased that we received an upgrade, especially in light of the current economic environment and the property tax declines we saw in 2011 and 2012,” said Bobby Lieb, Chair of the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners.

For additional information, please contact Karla Distel, Director of Finance, at (970) 382-6306.