(La Porte County, IN) - The A1 credit rating of the La Porte County government will remain unscathed, according to LaPorte County Auditor Tim Stabosz.

Last week, the La Porte County Commissioners said a late bond payment of more than $600,000 by Stabosz placed what they described as an A+ credit rating with Standard & Poor in jeopardy. Stabosz said he checked with the credit agency, one of the largest in the world, and nothing will be changed with the credit rating.

He said his political enemies intentionally jumped the gun to try and make him look bad, and the payment was late by just one day. 

“The commissioners brought up all of this garbage at their meeting, which I suspected quite highly that this would amount to nothing. S&P Global Agency is the rating agency that rates the bonds and they’re not even looking at it,” Stabosz said.

Stabosz blamed the late bond payment on the bank sending a notice to make the monthly payment to the former auditor and not him.

The commissioners formerly condemned Stabosz for the late payment by alleging he's more focused on using his public office to score personal and political points instead of doing the work of his elected office. However, one commissioner, Joe Haney, voted against condemning Stabosz, calling the allegations "political garbage."

Stabosz said the A1 rating is above average.  A perfect credit rating is triple-A, he said.

Stabosz has two outstanding lawsuits against him. First, La Porte County Attorney Shaw Friedman is suing him on allegations of defamation of character and by the county commissioners for ignoring orders to fully compensate Friedman's law firm for work provided to the county.  Often seen as a political ally to Stabosz, Joe Haney also voted against suing Stabosz.