EBENSBURG —
Cambria County commissioners will renew their efforts this year to obtain an improved bond rating that would be more attractive to investors and that could produce sizable savings in a bond refinancing.
On Friday, the commissioners agreed to retain Boenning & Scattergood Inc., a Pittsburgh investment firm, to assist the county in seeking the improved rating from Standard & Poor’s, a New York credit-rating service.
The Pittsburgh firm will provide the service free, with the possibility it could seek – in competition with other firms – to handle a bond refinancing if S&P upgrades the bond rating, the commissioners said.
A new bond issue at a lower interest rate could potentially mean a savings of $1 million, county Controller Ed Cernic Jr. said.
Cambria’s bond rating has been at BB since 2005. While the rating service said the county has a stable outlook, the BB rating still is considered non-investment grade. The commissioners are hoping it will be upgraded to a BBB, President Commissioner P.J. Stevens said.
The 2005 rating of BB actually was an upgrade from a B due to what was termed “an emerging trend of improved financial position,” S&P said. Previously, Cambria had been rated as a B, with S&P putting the county on its “CreditWatch” list in 2003.
Cambria officials are hoping that the 2009 audit – due to be completed this month – will again show a small surplus, as it has in the last three years, Mike Gelles, chief clerk and county finance director, said.
That will be one of the factors S&P would take into consideration when reviewing whether to change the county’s credit rating, he said.
He said that other factors that could be a “plus” for the county include the following:
• The sale of Laurel Crest, the county’s former nursing home that frequently was a financial drain on the county.
• An improved, unreserved fund balance.
The last big push by the county for an upgrade was in 2006, although S&P has made yearly reviews without any change since then, Commissioner Milan Gjurich said.
Gelles said that Cambria’s last bond issue was in 1998. It was a refinancing of a $40.8 million bond issue from 1994, plus some new money for the CPC renovation project, he said.
Since 1998, the county has been doing financing through local banks rather than through a bond issue, he said.
Local News
Cambria bids for better bond rating
- Local News
-
-
Proposed bill would expand use of traffic-light cameras
Some call it the hand of “big brother,” others are convinced cameras at signal lights would be effective in curbing red-light runners and ultimately saving lives.
-
Minister's trial date set
An issue has been resolved over the report from an examination of a girl allegedly taken by her mother to a Bedford motel to have sex with a traveling minister, clearing the way for a trial.
-
AP: Almost half of new veterans seek disability
America’s newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.
-
Geistown beginning crime watch program
Residents will patrol Geistown streets in the coming weeks as part of a community watch program.
-
Persons of the Week: Nanty Glo vets will remember fallen comrades
Michael Kurtz, Tom Kasecky and Steve Kasecky will be among members of the Loy A. Douglass Post 3489 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Nanty Glo who will be honoring fallen veterans today, Memorial Day.
-
AG candidates face potential conflicts of interest
Both candidates for Pennsylvania attorney general have family ties that could pose a conflict of interest for the one who is elected as the state’s next chief legal officer.
-
Lawmakers: Capitol rallies unpersuasive
Nancy Richey stepped to the podium with a microphone at the Capitol rotunda with the hope that the right people would hear her message.
-
Richland closer to new chief
The search for Richland’s next police chief is winding down.
-
In brief: Thunderstorm downs trees, knocks out power
A late Sunday afternoon thunderstorm brought high winds, hard rain and hail to the Cambria-Somerset region.
- District Deaths May 28, 2012
- More Local News Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
