Things are looking up for York County government.

Officials were notified earlier this week that the county will be upgraded to an A rating by Standard & Poors.

County Finance Director Victoria Ridlon was informed of the good news in the county’s credit rating Wednesday, and the upgrade is the first upward movement in the rating since it was lowered to A- from A+ more than five years ago. It also means the county will be eligible for lower interest rates when issuing bonds. Officials also say it is recognition that county government is improving its financial position ”“ a position that was precarious just a few years ago.

The improvement is thanks to some difficult decisions and hard work by county staff ”“ like former county manager Richard Brown, who had to make a lot of tough choices to get the county out of the red.

Back in 2006, when Standard & Poors downgraded the county’s rating, it was made public that the county’s fund balance was running a deficit of $800,000. Shortly thereafter, a financial audit showed the deficit was actually up to $1.2 million. Brown was hired on an interim basis ”“ at first ”“ to help solve the financial problem. The county refinanced some notes, hired its first finance director and instituted furlough days, among other measures.

Now, the county has a healthier fund balance ”“ a 2010 audit showed it at $2.1 million ”“ and officials are looking for new ways to save and increase revenues.

Before the big news hit, the county also announced it may offer information technology services to its 29 municipalities to save the towns and cities money while increasing revenues to county coffers.

Although the details have not been worked out, nor has the proposal been given final approval, officials are seeing if there is interest to move forward.

Current County Manager Greg Zinser recently told the 12-Town Group ”“ made up of the region’s small, rural municipalities ”“ about the offering. The county would provide support for existing telephone and computer equipment and advice on future investments in governmental computing and security, according to Zinser. The county is poised to give help desk support, off-site data back-up, remote monitoring, onsite assistance, help in deployment of new systems and planning advice for upgrades.

Zinser said a lot of small towns do not have an information technology department or even staff person, and the county could offer that at a much-reduced rate compared with the market.

It is encouraging to hear all of this good news for county government, and officials and county staff should be applauded for their hard work and sacrifices over the last five years to get here.

York County government appears to be on the right track.

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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.