Cook County bond rating revised up by all three ratings agencies

Fitch Ratings on Monday upgraded Cook County's bond rating outlook to "stable," the third ratings agency to revise the county's outlook upward in the last week. "We welcome Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's upgrading the county's bond rating outlook to 'stable' and their recognition of our work creating financial stability and confronting our legacy liabilities," said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Fitch's report noted its revision was based on "the progress the county has made in fundamentally realigning revenues and expenditures, improving its capacity to weather a moderate economic downturn, as well as its plan to dramatically improve pension funding in a way that does not present a risk to operations."