Years of fiscally conservative budgeting has allowed the county to issue a record $90 million in bonds for roads and the Sarpy County Correctional Center.
About $50 million is going toward the CONNECTSarpy – West Sarpy road program, which is improving roads in a 9-square-mile area between Harrison Street and Highway 370 from 168th to 204th Streets.
A separate bond issue of roughly $40 million will help cover the costs of building the new Correctional Center and other county building projects that are needed as a result of the changes at the county’s main campus.
“Sarpy County has a history of strong financial stewardship, and our approach with bonding over the last year follows that tradition,” Sarpy County Commissioner Gary Mixan said. “Bonding – versus pay-as-you-go – is the best option because we can get these important projects done sooner and at a lower cost.”
To further demonstrate sound bond management, the county adopted a policy that limits the amount of bonds issued for roads projects to less than 50% of the county’s projected annual Highway Allocation Revenue.
The county’s financial strategy and efforts by the Fiscal & Budget staff have earned high marks from Moody’s Investors Service.
Moody’s in 2021 assigned Sarpy County an Aaa rating, the highest rating offered by the organization. Only 108 out of 3,143 counties in the United States have an Aaa rating. Sarpy has held the Aaa designation since 2017.
The Aaa rating means Sarpy County qualifies for the lowest possible interest rates, resulting in lower costs for Sarpy County taxpayers.