Internationally respected financial rating firm Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has recognized Victoria County’s conservative financial management and policies in a report assigning the county a AA “very strong” rating for both the $14.92 million “Series A” Certificates of Obligation the county is issuing on behalf of Citizens Medical Center, and the $14.5 million “Series B” Certificates of Obligation being issued to fund a wide variety of county projects. This “very strong” rating helps keep interest costs for county-owned Citizens Medical Center and the county itself quite low.

In formulating ratings, Standard & Poor’s analyzes aspects such as organizational management, prior credit history, an organization’s budgetary performance over time, social and economic factors, and natural threats like hurricanes. For Standard & Poor’s, a AA rating indicates “very strong capacity” and differs from the highest rating of AAA in relatively minor ways.

For Victoria County, S&P notes that “The rating reflects our view of the county’s solid financial performance--evident in healthy reserves, a stable economy, and a manageable debt profile.” Standard & Poor’s further states: “We believe finances will continue to benefit from a growing economy and conservative budget assumptions. The debt burden is relatively low, reflecting the Commissioners’ Court conservative approach to debt leveraging, and, considering the lack of additional debt plans, we do not anticipate the debt profile will materially weaken over the next two years.”

“As Victoria County moves forward on numerous important projects and initiatives, we are appreciative of this major stamp of approval from a world-class firm like Standard & Poor’s. To put that AA rating in context, it is one of the best for a county our size anywhere in Texas. This rating is another vital sign that our county is in an excellent position even after everything that has happened since 2020. Being rated “AA” also saves the county real money on complex projects like a regional law enforcement training center,” County Judge Ben Zeller said.

Standard & Poor’s also positively points out that the county “Financial management policies and practices include conservative budgeting, regular updates on budget-to-actual results to Commissioners’ Court, and formal investment, debt management, and reserve policies.”