OREANDA-NEWS. March 16, 2016. Fitch Ratings assigns a 'AAA' rating to the following Prince William County, Virginia (the county) general obligation (GOs) bonds issued by the Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA):

--\\$158.6 million special obligation school financing and refunding bonds, Prince William County series 2016.

Special obligation bond proceeds will be used to fund various school projects. The bonds will be priced via competitive sale on March 29.

The Rating Outlook is Stable.

SECURITY

VPSA bonds are payable from debt service payments on underlying GO bonds made by the county on behalf of the school, held by the authority and pledged to the payment of the bonds.

The GO bonds are general obligations of the county, secured by its full faith and credit pledge and unlimited taxing power.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

SOUND FINANCIAL POSITION: Reserve levels and financial flexibility remain sound, supported by prudent fiscal policies, multi-year planning and ample revenue flexibility.

DYNAMIC ECONOMY: The county's strong and diverse economic base benefits from its location near Washington, D.C., with high wealth levels, a highly educated labor pool and low unemployment. Recent tax base growth has been robust.

FAVORABLE DEBT PROFILE: Prince William County continues to adhere to good debt management guidelines, which has resulted in moderately low overall debt and rapid amortization.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

STRONG FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Financial flexibility continues to be ample with healthy fund balance levels as a result of conservative budgeting practices. Although not expected, weakening of the county's financial flexibility would result in a rating change.

CREDIT PROFILE

The county is located in northern Virginia, approximately 25 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. It encompasses an area of 348 square miles, of which 18.8% is federally owned land. The county's population continues to grow at a rapid pace, reaching an estimated 446,094 in 2014, an 11% increase since 2010.

ADEQUATE RESERVE LEVELS

Conservative budgetary management has enabled the county to maintain healthy reserves and liquidity. Fiscal 2015 ended with a net operating surplus after transfers of roughly \\$27.2 million (2.7% of spending), despite the \\$11.9 million budgeted appropriation. The unrestricted general fund balance totaled \\$161.6 million or a healthy 15.9% of spending.

Despite the intentional use of committed reserves in recent years for capital spending (about 1.5% of spending), management plans to continue to meet its 7.5% unassigned general fund reserve fund-balance policy. In addition to the 7.5% reserve, the county maintains a revenue stabilization reserve within the committed fund balance. As of fiscal year-end 2015 the balance was equal to 3.6% of general fund revenues, which is well above the prescribed minimum balance. The county board recently increased the revenue stabilization reserve to 2% from 1%. '
SOLID REVENUE-RAISING FLEXIBILITY

The county's property tax rate and levy are not subject to limitation. Typical of Virginia counties, property taxes produced a high 68% of fiscal 2015 general fund revenue. The county has reduced the tax rate over the past three fiscal years reflecting consistent growth in assessed values (AVs). Tax rates are competitive with similarly sized neighboring communities.

The fiscal 2016 general fund adopted budget reflects a 3.74% spending increase over the prior year's budget. It includes a 2.6-cent tax rate decline to \\$1.122 per \\$100 of AV and a \\$3.1 million fund balance appropriation, for one-time capital spending. The budget increase funds a 4.2% increase to schools, additional public safety positions and equipment, and a 2% market adjustment pay raise for most employees. According to year-to-date operating performance, revenues are \\$5 million over budget due mostly to positive variances in personal property taxes, and spending is about \\$5 million under budget as well, the result of conservative budgeting for vacancies.

STRONG LOCAL ECONOMY ANCHORED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRESENCE

The county benefits from its location on the outskirts of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, its relative affordability, and a well-educated workforce. Its stable economic base, rooted in government and military employment, has expanded to encompass the targeted industries of life sciences, information technology and federal government agencies and contractors.

Given the available land and existing utility infrastructure, approximately 2.3 million square feet of data centers have been constructed within the county since 2000. A \\$100 million center was completed during 2015 which added 15 jobs. A second \\$500 million facility is projected to be completed by June of 2016 and is expected to add 30 new jobs.

The presence of the Quantico Marine Base along with the addition of the FBI Northern VA satellite office helps to attract contractors and federal agencies. The county remains exposed to changes in defense spending, although since 2005 \\$239 million in investment and 2,474 net new jobs have been added in this sector. The federal government currently represents 6% of the resident employment base.

The county has experienced rapid population growth since the 1970s, with increases during the past decade outpacing those of the commonwealth by over three times. Employment figures remain strong with unemployment at a low 3.5% as of December 2015, below both the state and national average.

AFFORDABLE DEBT LEVELS

Overall debt levels are expected to remain moderately low given the county's comprehensive planning and debt affordability guidelines. Overall debt equals \\$2,576 per capita and 1.8% of market value, well below the county's policy of 3%. Amortization is above average and annual debt service costs are affordable at 10% of total fiscal 2015 governmental spending. The county's approximately \\$1.3 billion fiscal year 2016-2021 capital improvement plan is primarily debt-financed (\\$714 million) and comprises mostly education-related projects at \\$919 million. Given the county's above-average amortization the additional debt is not expected to significantly impact the debt profile. Pay-go spending accounts for a quarter of funding.

MODEST PENSION AND OPEB COSTS

Long-term liabilities related to other post-employment benefits (OPEB) do not pressure operations. As of June 2015, the county's portion of the state pension program's (Virginia Retirement System) unfunded actuarial accrued liability totals approximately \\$186 million or less than a half a percent of market value.

The county also maintains a small supplemental defined benefit retirement plan for police officers and uniformed fire and rescue personnel and a volunteer fire and rescue personnel length of service award program (LOSAP). As of July 2015, the supplemental plan's unfunded liability was just \\$3.9 million. The 2015 required contribution for all plans accounted for a modest 2.7% of government spending. Notably, the county typically funds its annual required contribution (ARC) for OPEB, which accounted for 0.1% of spending in fiscal 2015. Carrying costs for debt service, pension ARC and OPEB actual payment were a modest 13% of governmental spending in fiscal 2015.