COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County Treasurer Ann Vrablic told the Branch County Board of Commissioners Tuesday as they finish up work on the County’s 2019 budget, it was important to keep the county’s bond rating at AA-.
Commissioners have been split in recent weeks about a request to add an additional deputy from the Sheriff’s Department, which would require using the county’s fund balance. Complicating the issue is a bond sale early next year that will be used in part to finance a new Branch County Jail.
Vrablic said in a prepared statement Tuesday that a lowering of the bond rating is possible if, among other things, the county’s debt profile were to worsen.
She pointed out the savings of $1.2 million in the borrowing for the Maple Lawn Medical Care Facility renoovation and expansion project two years ago helped strengthen the county’s bond rating.
However, she warned the new jail costs will be twice as much as the Maple Lawn project.
The 2019 budget is scheduled to be formally adopted next Tuesday.
