Pittsylvania County improves annual bond rating score

Pittsylvania County’s bond rating has improved over last year’s score, according to the county’s financial advisors.

The county’s rating, an average of scores from Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, is A1. Moody’s gave the county a score of A2, while Standard & Poor’s rated it an A+, which are strong, investment-grade ratings, said David Rose, senior vice president of Davenport & Company LLC, a Richmond-based firm that serves as the county’s financial advisor.

The rating is based on several factors including the county’s financial management, debt management, economic development, capital projects and other comparisons with similar-sized communities.

Rose cited the Cane Creek Centre, the county’s joint industrial park with Danville, as a factor in the rating.

“That has been an engine for the county,” Rose told the Board of Supervisors Monday night.

Also, the county has one of the lowest tax burdens among counties across the state — in the bottom quarter, Rose said.

The bond rating determines interest rates the county pays on bonds and loans.

Pittsylvania County secured $60 million in bonds Thursday to pay for renovations at the county’s four high schools. The bond rating saved the county about $5 million in interest and enabled it to obtain a 5.6 percent interest rate on $40 million and 4.7 percent on the other $20 million, Board Chairman Coy Harville said.