Putnam County has maintained its Aa2 rating from Moody’s Investors Service, The Journal News/Lohud.com reports this afternoon. The county is planning to issue a $6.4 million bond for highway and facility repairs.
Aa2 is the third highest rating Moody’s gives, and it likely will alllow the county to secure an interest rate of between 2 percent and 2-1/2 percent, according to William Carlin Jr., the county finance commissioner.
“It’s a very strong rating,” Carlin told The Journal News, explaining that two factors were that the county has a low employment rate and one of the highest median income levels in the state
Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell said the credit rating “developed through sound fiscal management, will save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest costs over the life of the bond issue.”
Moody’s announcement Tuesday said the rating reflects Putnam’s “satisfactory financial reserves following consecutive operating surpluses,” its large tax base and low debt burden. It does not that the county’s tax base has weakened.
Westchester County received a higher Moody’s rating earlier this month for a $63.6 million bond issue, but the service said the county has had declines in its reserves. Rockland County in May received the lost credit rating of any county in the state—Baa3, down three levels from A3.
