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Bowie has received a AAA bond rating from one of three rating companies that recently assessed the city's financial standing.

Credit agency Standard and Poor's gave the city a AAA rating, while Moody's Investors Service rated Bowie at AA1 and Fitch Ratings provided an AA+ rating.

The Moody's rating puts the city in the high end of the AA rating scale, while the rating from Standard and Poor's puts the city in an "elite category" and represents "a resounding endorsement of prudent fiscal management," City Manager David Deutsch wrote in a memo to the City Council.

The City Council recently approved the borrowing of $15.5 million in bonds in fiscal 2010 to help pay for construction of the new City Hall and had to undergo the rating process to determine the level of interest the city will pay on the money it borrows.

"Normally with high bond ratings you should see low interest rates," said Byron Matthews, the assistant director of the Bowie Finance Department.

Matthews said he did not want to speculate on the interest rates the city will pay. The city plans to go to market for the bonds on Tuesday.

The $15.5 million will go toward the $23.7 million cost of completing the 80,000-square-foot City Hall project, which will replace the current City Hall and police department and is expected to be finished in 2011.

Ethics commission seeks two new members

The Bowie Ethics Commission is seeking two volunteers to fill vacancies.

Members of the commission are responsible for interpreting the Bowie City Code and hearing and ruling on complaints regarding an alleged violation of the code.

Anyone interested in joining the commission should send a letter of interest and resume to City Clerk Pam Fleming at City Hall, 2614 Kenhill Drive, Bowie, MD 20715 or e-mail pfleming@cityofbowie.org.