Guest Commentary

By TERRENCE

TOMASSETTI

Commissioner

Blair County

Late last month, Moody’s Investors Services downgraded Blair County’s bond rating from A1 to A2. This downgrade affects the county’s approximate $31 million in outstanding debt.

There are a number of all-too-familiar reasons for this action. Some include:

• a protracted period of structurally imbalanced operations evidenced by a continual reliance on reserves and depletion of fund balances,

• the inability to increase revenues prior to reassessment, and

• pension liabilities which are elevated because of many years of underfunding.

These and oth...