Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'AA+' rating to Washington County, Md.'s series 2016 public improvement and refunding general obligation (GO) bonds. At the same time, we affirmed our 'AA+' rating on the county's existing GO debt. The outlook is stable. The county's full-faith-and-credit pledge secures the GO bonds. We understand proceeds from this issue will be used to finance various county capital projects as well as refund all or a portion of the county's outstanding series 2009 GO bonds. The rating reflects our opinion of the following factors for the county, including its: Strong economy, with access to a broad and diverse metropolitan statistical area (MSA); Very strong management, with strong financial policies and practices under our Financial
