It’s not always “good manners” to boast about accomplishments, but we do not want to let some remarkably good news about Hamilton County pass by unnoticed.
You might have spotted an article in the Times Free Press about the county’s bond rating. We will quote just a bit of the article:
“[T]he county boasts the best bond rating of any county in Tennessee — and is among the top 2 percent of all counties nationwide … .”
That assessment comes courtesy of a new study by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
What makes the news even more exhilarating is that Hamilton was one of only 20 counties nationwide that climbed the ranks to Standard & Poor’s top level during the recession. In addition to the 47 counties that had previously achieved that AAA rating, only 67 of the total 3,143 counties in the United States enjoy such high status.
The excellent bond rating from Standard & Poor’s can translate to lower interest rates when the county borrows money for future projects.
Hamilton County has obviously benefited from wise financial stewardship. The county has only about half of the per-capita debt of most counties, the Times Free Press article noted, and it has comparatively greater reserve funds.
Claude Ramsey, who just left his position as county mayor to become new Gov. Bill Haslam’s chief of staff, noted, “Over the past few years, we’ve tried to put controls on our spending, and I operated under the assumption that the economy wasn’t going to get real better very quick, so we need to protect our reserves.”
A sensible, conservative approach to the use of taxpayer funds has left Hamilton County in good financial shape.
That’s something area residents can be proud of.