Racine – Reuters reported that Racine County’s decision to provide financial assistance to Foxconn, to build a liquid-crystal display plant, has hurt the county’s credit rating.
According to Reuters Moody’s Investor Service dropped the rating Aa2 from Aa1, “citing anticipated growth in the county’s debt burden after it authorized up to $764 million in financial incentives to support the $10 billion plant.”
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed into law a $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn to build a huge plant in Racine County.
The 20 million-square-foot LCD Foxconn plant Walker contends could ultimately employ 13,000 workers at the site.
No calls to Racine County executive’s office for comment on the matter were returned.
Racine County expects to sell $79.2 million of taxable bond anticipation notes to finance land purchases for the project.
Mount Pleasant, the site of the plant, also plans to sell up to $113 million of bonds for Foxconn.
“Based on current borrowing plans, we expect the county’s direct and overlapping debt burdens will remain in line with the current rating. Additional borrowing would present more significant credit challenges,” the credit rating agency said in a report according to Reuters.
Sourced statistics: www.3creditscores.net
