BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The top credit rating agencies are looking favorably at Anne Arundel, which could make paying off debt cheaper for the county.

“If you were to take an economic pulse, you would find the county is a fairly healthy patient,” said County Executive John R. Leopold, who went to New York’s bond houses recently to showcase the county’s financial status.

The bond houses issue credit ratings that determine how much interest the county pays on its bonds. Last year, the county earned its first AAA rating — the highest one can achieve — from Standard and Poor’s.

“The three bond houses continued to be pleased with our strong fiscal posture,” Leopold said. “I believe that in the near term, we will get more AAA ratings.”

Interest on debt service for projects, such as new schools, comes from tax dollars, which may be lean this year due to a declining housing market.

A big factor in New York’s outlook for Anne Arundel is the Base Realignment and Closure expansion at Fort Meade, officials said.

The arrival of 10,000 to 20,000 new jobs will likely stimulate the local economy, said Bob Leib, the county’s BRAC coordinator.

While the national economy appears to be in a steady decline, the local economy is buoyed by low unemployment, said Bob Burdon, president of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce.

However, those jobs aren’t meeting the needs of those in a recent Anne Arundel Community College survey, which found high utility bills, and the cost of living outpacing salaries, as the biggest economic issues respondents face.

Residents polled in the survey said they believed the county is heading in the right direction, but that opinion has been slipping from 58 percent in 2004 to 50 percent this month.

jflanagan@baltimoreexaminer.com