No junk rating for Collier County

The fuss over Moody's recent downgrade of Collier County's gas-tax revenue bonds should be taken in stride.

The credit-rating firm didn't exactly cast the county into “junk” status. Moody's only notched down the gas-tax revenue bonds totaling nearly $146 million of debt within the “A” investment grade, from A1 to A2, citing declines in gas taxes raised.

In fact, Collier County remains a highly rated bond issuer due to its strong and wealthy economic base, Moody's says in its most recent analysis.

But Collier County politicians shouldn't dismiss the downgrade outright. It's an opportunity to reexamine the county's debt load, cut the county's expenses and make sure taxpayers pay low interest on the local debt.