Douglas County's financial practices rated 'Strong' by Standard and Poor's

Douglas County’s financial management practices were recently rated “strong” by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Rating Services.
As part of its rating, S&P stated that the highlights of the County’s management techniques are its formal financial policies, utilizing external and internal resources for budget assumptions, and engaging in multi-year financial planning, including a new five-year forecast the County created this year, according to a news release issued by Douglas County.

S&P assigned its “A+” rating to Douglas County on June 27, 2012 for a 2012 general obligation bond, as well as for its long-term and underlying rating. In addition to strong financial management, S&P also found the County’s property tax base to be diverse, market value per capita to be extremely strong, median household effective buying income and low debt burden to be strong, and continued diversification of the economy into manufacturing and other sectors to be a positive trend, the release stated. Douglas County was credited for working with local districts to restructure property taxes, reduce and stabilize compensation for public employees, and eliminate and consolidate positions.

“Douglas County has worked hard over the past four years to responsibly manage our finances during one of the most challenging economic times in history,” said County Manager Steve Mokrohisky. “We welcome the A+ rating and will continue to focus on lowering the cost to taxpayers for financing important public projects.”

S&P identified assessed value and state consolidated tax (C-tax) declines over the past several years, as well as annual pension obligations and dependence on tourism as challenges. Due to the County’s strong management policies and very strong reserves, S&P stated that it could actually raise the ratings in the future if assessed values and C-taxes establish a growth trend, and the County increases its general fund balance.

Douglas County was rated by S&P as part of a bond issuance to finance the construction of the new Community and Senior Center. Many local governments in Nevada and across the country have had their bond ratings downgraded, due to recent economic challenges, declining revenues, increasing expenses and unfunded employee benefit liabilities, the release stated.