Agencies Uphold Town of Huntington’s AAA Bond Rating

Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s maintain highest rating for Town’s bonds; Moody’s upgrades outlook

Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Services have upheld the Town of Huntington’s AAA bond rating, covering both existing debt and a planned $13.925 million bond issue scheduled for later this week.

Moody’s, in addition to maintaining the AAA rating, upgraded the Town’s outlook to “stable.” Moody’s noted that the rating “reflects the Town’s currently satisfactory reserve position and improving financial obligations, its sizable wealthy tax base and low debt burden.”  Moody’s said the stable outlook “reflects our expectation of continued sound financial operations and modest growth and overall stability in the local economy.”

In issuing its rating, Standard & Poor’s cited the Town’s “strong management, with good financial policies and practices,” as well as adequate budgetary performance, strong budgetary flexibility, very strong liquidity and strong debt and contingent liability position.

“We believe the Town has demonstrated sound monitoring, ability to adopt and adhere to formal policies, and forward-planning,” the rating firm noted in its report. “Town management tends to conservatively estimate both expenditures and revenues.”

The ratings extend to both the $13.925 million in borrowing scheduled later this week and to the $109 million in outstanding debt. Of the outstanding debt, $84 million represents Town borrowing and $25 million is debt incurred by the water districts in the Town; that debt is repaid only by district residents. The planned borrowing includes $12.4 million for Town projects and $1.5 million for the Greenlawn Water District.

“We are gratified that Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have once again affirmed their support of Huntington’s fiscal policies by maintaining the AAA bond rating and either upholding or upgrading their outlook,” Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said. “These ratings will ensure that Huntington continues to save on borrowing costs, benefitting all Town taxpayers.”