Case Study: Montgomery County, MD
Davenport has been a full service advisor to Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction for over two decades. The County is a sophisticated and complex triple-AAA credit. In addition to advising on the County’s multi-billion dollar general obligation borrowing program, we inaugurated two revenue bond programs, one secured by the net profits of the County’s Alcoholic Beverage Services (formerly Dept of Liquor Control) enterprise to fund capital projects, and the other by the County’s water quality protection charge to fund storm water management. Beyond debt issuance, we have assisted the County with debt capacity/affordability, rating methodology, and fiscal reserve studies, as well as analysis of the potential fiscal and rating impacts of bills introduced by the County Council. Davenport continuously monitors the County’s debt portfolio and has assisted it with numerous refunding issues that have repeatedly generated budgetary savings consistent with established refunding policy. In 2020, we advised and assisted the County in obtaining an operating line of credit as a margin of safety in the event of severe revenue dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.