Moody’s Maintains Brick Township’s AA2 Rating

Brick-(PR)–Moody’s Investors Services Inc. has assigned a rating of Aa2 to $30 million in Brick Township’s GO Bonds and maintains the town’s Aa2 rating on $160.9 million of outstanding debt.  Moody’s has also assigned a MIG1 rating on $676,622 in Township short-term bonds and notes.

“These ratings show the continued financial strength of the municipal government,” said Mayor Stephen Acropolis.  “While papers are filled with stories of towns and cities going bankrupt, we have been working hard to keep the township on strong financial footing and this report from Moody’s proves the steps we are taking are working.”

Moody’s Aa2 rating is assigned to obligors who are “judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.”  It is their third highest rating on long-term debt.  The MIG (Municipal Investment Grade) is used to rate US municipal bond anticipation notes of up to three years maturity.  MIG1 is the highest rating for short-term debt.  The designation “denotes superior credit quality.”

One of the factors that Moody’s cited as a financial strength was the Township’s “demonstrated success in cutting expenses.”

“Moody’s recognizes the steps we have taken to cut expenses and acknowledges they are working.  These include reducing the size of the workforce, negotiating labor agreements that are more affordable for taxpayers and creating revenue streams,” said Mayor Acropolis.  “They don’t concern themselves with headlines or what is being said in online forums.  They concern themselves with the facts and the finances.  They look at us through the eyes of investors and these ratings show that they think we are doing a good job.”

The strong ratings from Moody’s will help increase market access when issuing bonds and notes and will lead to lowered borrowing costs.

“Just like a citizen who gets lower APR on credit cards for their strong credit rating, the Township will get lower borrowing costs when we need to issue bonds and notes for projects and operations,” said Business Administrator Scott Pezarras.  “This equates to savings for taxpayers.”

Posted by Ocean County News on Sep 11 2012. Filed under Brick, Community, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.