Prince William County roundup

County’s AAA credit rating reaffirmed
Prince William County’s high credit rating is reaffirmed with Fitch Ratings’ assignment of a “AAA” rating with a negative outlook, and Moody’s Investors Service’s assignment of a “Aa1” rating. These ratings are for Prince William County’s $46.9 million of General Obligation (GO) bonds to be sold Tuesday. Fitch Ratings also affirmed its AAA rating and Moody’s affirmed its Aa1 rating on all of Prince William County’s outstanding GO debt. There are six localities in Virginia that have AAA GO debt ratings. AAA ratings are awarded to less than 1 percent of local governments in the United States.
Investment grade debt ranges from a low in the BBB category to the highest rating of AAA, with the majority rated in between these two levels in the A or AA ranges. These reaffirmed ratings place Prince William County at the highest rating that Fitch Ratings assigns to local governments and at the second highest rating that Moody’s assigns to local governments. Attaining these extremely high levels of credit rating will result in lower interest rates that will reduce annual debt service payments on bond sales.

The affirmation of the county’s AAA, Aa1 credit ratings are in conjunction with a bond sale for financing the construction of new roads and a park. These credit ratings are the result of a steadily growing and diversifying local economy, high residential wealth, a strong financial management program that has substantially boosted reserves in an environment of increasing service demands, and a moderate debt burden with manageable future capital needs. The negative outlook from Fitch Ratings reflects their concern that continued deterioration in the housing market and a high foreclosure rate relative to the Northern Virginia area could weaken the economy’s strong momentum and pressure budgetary stability. Stress from the housing market downturn has resulted in revenues from recordation, sales, consumer utility, and business professional and occupational license taxes all being below budgeted levels in fiscal 2008. Fitch stated that “Despite mounting pressure on revenues resulting from housing market declines, fiscal operations remain relatively stable, guided by closely monitored expenditure controls, regular financial reporting, and multi-year financial forecasting.” Both agencies cited the County’s maintenance of sound financial reserves as a significant credit strength. They also continued to be complimentary of the County’s multi-year revenue forecasting process.

For more information, please call the Prince William County Finance Department at 703-792-6700.

Prince William offers cooling comfort
Prince William County government is committed to serving our vulnerable citizens during times of extreme weather. When temperatures reach 95 degrees and higher, the county offers some places to cool off and suggestions for staying safe.

When the temperature is 95 degrees or higher the following two cooling centers are open:

Drop In Center for the Homeless —  The Department of Social Services normally operates a Drop-In Center for homeless adults in partnership with the Cooperative Council of Ministries. During extreme heat conditions, the center will be open Monday-Saturday from 2:30-6:30 p.m. for anyone to use to escape the heat.

The Drop-In Center is at 14370 Potomac Mills Road, in Woodbridge.

For more information, contact Pat Johanson, Homeless Services Coordinator, at 703-792-7549, or Terri Stott at 703-792-7529.

Senior Centers — During extreme heat the county’s two Senior Centers will remain open until 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, to serve citizens age 55 and older. The Senior Center addresses and phone numbers are:

• Manassas Senior Center, 9320 Mosby St., Manassas, 703-792-6405 (Kathy Lee-Meredith, Manager).

• Woodbridge Senior Center, 13850 Church Hill Drive, Woodbridge, 703-494-5136 (Barbara Diehl, Manager).

Other — County residents who do not have air conditioning or are affected by the heat are encouraged to go to a nearby shopping mall, county libraries or other government buildings such as the Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building, 15948 Donald Curtis Drive in Woodbridge; Sudley North Government Center, 7987 Ashton Ave. in Manassas; or the James J. McCoart Building, 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge. Even a few hours spent in air conditioning can help your body stay cooler when you go back into the heat.

FP senior qualifies for golf tournament
The Prince William County Park Authority recently announced that Forest Park High School senior Joe Buttgereit has qualified for the 2008 boys U.S. Junior Amateur.

Buttgereit is a member of the Forest Park High School golf team, and resides with his parents in Montclair.  “Joe shot a two over 142 at Bethesda Country Club and secured a spot in the field by making a par on the first hole of a sudden death playoff” said Tom Miller, Assistant Golf Professional at Forest Greens Golf Club. 

Buttgereit is employed by the Prince William County Park Authority for the summer as an outside service attendant at Forest Greens. 

The 16-year-old Buttgereit qualified on June 30 and will head south to play at Shoal Creek Country Club in Shoal Creek, Ala.

He will compete against 155 of the best junior amateurs in the country. Joe will compete to qualify today and Tuesday for the field of 64. 

The match-play format will be held on Wednesday with finals on Saturday. 

The U.S. Junior Amateur is considered the premier junior competition.

The event is open to male golfers who have not reached their 18th birthday prior to the close of competition and whose United States Golf Association Handicap Index does not exceed 6.4. 

The U.S. Junior is one of 13 national championship conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.