Press Release

Oakland County AAA Rating Saves Birmingham Thousands of Dollars on Bond Refinancing

Pontiac, MI, March 19, 2008 Oakland County has leveraged its double AAA Bond Rating from Moodys Investor Services and Standard and Poors into a huge savings for the City of Birmingham on a bond refinancing initiative.

Because of its high bond rating, the county was able to secure a 3.07% interest rate on the eight year bond issue for the Birmingham CSO Drainage District.  This will result in a net savings of $226,000 for the City of Birmingham and the County of Oakland.

The AAA Bond Rating saves the county about $3 million in interest charges annually on a variety of drain and sewer projects, which reduces the tax burden on residents and businesses alike, said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson who along with other county officials just returned from Chicago where they met with representatives from Moodys and Standard and Poors in an effort to preserve Oaklands top bond rating.

County Treasurer Pat Dohany, one of those making the trip to Chicago, said the bond refinancing will save taxpayers about $25,000 annually which is good news at a time when they could really use some.

This current windfall for Birmingham means the community can use the money formerly earmarked for interest payments for other needed projects, said John McCulloch, Oakland County Drain Commissioner.

During the groups presentation to the two Wall Street bond rating firms this week, the sale of $567 million in Trust Certificates to retire the countys retiree healthcare debt was highlighted to showcase Oakland Countys innovative approach to difficult problems.  The Wall Street representatives were told that at a time when most governments are just beginning to recognize and deal with the retiree healthcare issue, Oakland County has already successfully addressed the problem and emerged as the first county in America to fully fund its retiree healthcare.

The delegation also noted that over the past three and a half years, the countys Emerging Sectors program has generated nearly $1 billion in new investment, create 9,400 new jobs and retained more than 2,800 other jobs.

Oakland County is one of only 34 counties among more than 3,000 nationwide to have attained and maintained the coveted AAA Bond Rating, which is the highest rating possible.

For media inquiries only, please contact Bob Dustman, Media and Communications Officer, at (248) 858-1048.
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