Montgomery County’s bond rating is “safe” because the economic picture for the county is so rosy, analysts told the County Council’s Management and Fiscal Policy Committee Monday.
Continued growth in job creation will help offset an expected slowdown in the housing market, said David Platt, the chief county economist. “The outlook is good.”
Though consumer purchases of durable goods in the county dropped in 2005, analysts said that was to be expected following a 2004 peak in spending for items like cars, appliances and furniture.
Spending on nondurable goods such as clothing showed close to 6 percent growth through 2005.
Both indicators are used as measures of consumer confidence, though durable goods spending has cyclical peaks and drops.
The county may have to step in to cover about $17 million in education funding that failed to make it through the state legislature. The so-called geographic index, created in 2000 as part of the Thornton Commission Report, would give the county the extra funds to make up for the higher cost of hiring teachers and educating students here. The General Assembly, however, has not approved those funds since the index was created.
