Kaua'i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said the county has received record high credit ratings from three bond-rating companies.

Carvalho said that means the interest rate for a new $120 million bond issuance will be lower than it would have been with the previous ratings.

He said that will result in an estimated savings of some $3 million in gross interest costs over the life of the bond repayment period.

According to county officials, Moody's Investors Service announced the county received an Aa3 rating, up from A1.

In addition, they said, Standard & Poor's Rating Services raised its rating and underlying rating for Kaua'i from AA- to AA, while Fitch Ratings assigned an AA- rating to the county and upgraded its general obligation debt to AA- from A+.