As part of Standard & Poor's (S&P) practice of regularly surveying existing bond ratings, S&P has upgraded the bond rating of Spring Lake Township from "A" to "AA".
Township Clerk Carolyn Boersma noted; "This is very welcome news and it is an indicator of the positive position that Spring Lake Township is in financially". 
 
According to Standard & Poor's:
 
"Spring Lake Township (population: 14,146) is located in Ottawa County about 32 miles northwest of Grand Rapids. Income levels in the township are, in our opinion, good, with median household EBI at 109% of the national levels.   Market value decreased by 1.7% in 2009 to $1.63 billion, or $115,250 per capita, which we consider extremely strong. The township posted a $100,000 deficit in fiscal 2009 primarily due to expenditures on maintenance of roads and drains, bringing the unreserved general fund balance to $1.2 million or, in our view, a very strong 55.0% of expenditures. Management expects a general fund deficit of about $125,000 in fiscal 2010. We view the township's overall net debt burden moderate at $3,858 per capita and 3.3% of market value. We understand the township has no immediate debt plans at this time."
 
Township Manager Gordon Gallagher further explained that; "For Spring Lake Township, this represents a significant (three step) increase.  This part of the rating scale goes from "A" to "A+" to "AA-" to "AA" and then up to the highest rating of "AAA".  Although we did not receive the AAA distinction, we are very proud to have seen our bond rating improve during these challenging economic times".
 
S&P ratings reflect their view of the potential economic impact from the local, state, and national economies. All of the issuers reviewed in the newly released report are in states that have faced recent financial and/or economic difficulties, and some of those difficulties have translated to reduced revenue distributions to local governments. S&P believes this is particularly important for issuers, most notably school districts, which receive a significant portion of their funding from per pupil revenues distributed by the state. To affirm or adjust ratings upward under these circumstances, Standard & Poor's assesses the impact of statewide financial or economic difficulties on local issuers, particularly if those difficulties result in reduced revenues for the issuer. Management's response, or lack thereof, is particularly important to their analysis. Those issuers seeing upgrades have, in our opinion, maintained structural balance or clearly communicated to us what they have done, or will do, to regain structural balance.