Moody's Reaffirms AAA Ratings For Vienna, Fairfax; No Word From S&P

Update 9:58 p.m. Aug. 5: Though Standard and Poor's downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ on Friday night, the Town of Vienna said before the close of business it had not been contacted by the company about a change in its rating.

Original 5:57 p.m.: , Moody's Investor Service reaffirmed the AAA bond rating of Vienna, Fairfax County and several other area jurisdictions.

But the investor service is keeping all of those municipalities "on a negative outlook," signifying they could experience a possible downgrade in the coming years.

Other jurisdictions affected include Fairfax County Water, Prince William County, Arlington County, Alexandria and Prince William County, among others. 

Moody's representatives plan to meet with Vienna and Fairfax County Officials in the coming weeks so they can defend their financial status.

But the status is not an indication that the town, or the county, has done anything wrong financially, said Vienna Public Information Officer Kirstyn Barr. 

"It's the potential impact of the federal government on our area's economy that they're worried about," Barr said.

"Their decision to assign a negative outlook to the county’s rating is based primarily on the link to the U.S. government in terms of federal contracts/federal employment, and does not reflect on the continuing strength and good fiscal management of Fairfax County," Fairfax County spokesperson Merni Fitzgerald said.  "We will have the opportunity to meet with Moody's to provide more specific information about Fairfax County and its diversified economy."

Fitzgerald said the negative outlook wouldn't change the way the county does business.

"Fairfax County has a strong history of taking decisive actions to meet its financial obligations. It has weathered projected deficits, taken programmatic reductions and eliminated positions to ensure an annual balanced budget," Fitzgerald said. "There are no plans to change the way major projects are financed; this situation will be addressed by monitoring the situation and making adjustments as the markets respond."

In a call with more than 12,000 of his Northern Virginia constituents Thursday night, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly said residents shouldn't be worried about cuts because most of the area's contractors are not involved in military manufacturing, but instead, on cybersecurity, research, development and advanced technology "that will be in greater demand as the Pentagon shrinks.”  

It's not clear when Moody's will make a visit to Vienna.