...S&P Global Ratings assigned its '##+' rating to Washington County, Md.'s series 2018 public improvement general obligation (GO) bonds. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its '##+' rating on the county's GO debt outstanding. 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. The rating reflects our opinion of the following factors for the county: + 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 Management Assessment (FMA) methodology; + Strong budgetary performance, with balanced operating results in the general fund and an operating surplus at the total governmental fund level in fiscal 2017; + Very strong budgetary flexibility, with an available fund balance in fiscal 2017 of 24% of operating expenditures, including...
