Moody’s, S&P upgrade village bond ratings

Rockville Centre’s ratings just keep going up.

Last week, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services raised the rating on the village’s debt from AA+ to AAA — the highest possible rating. Additionally, Moody’s, another rating service, raised the village’s rating to AA2, which is one of its highest ratings.

“The upgrade means the village can secure better interest rates that will save us thousands of dollars on future borrowing,” said Village Spokesperson Julie Scully.

According to Moody’s, the upgrade came because of the village’s large, mostly affluent tax base, improving financial situation and manageable debt. S&P had similar reasoning.

“The upgrade is based on the village’s ability to consistently maintain balanced operations and strong liquidity during the recent recession,” said S&P credit analyst Danielle Leonardis in a release.

“I am extremely proud of the S&P upgrade to a AAA rating,” said Mayor Francis X. Murray. “My administration has worked diligently to bring about fiscal discipline to the operation of our village while not impacting services. As S&P noted, this proved to be extremely challenging during the downturn in the economy, but the village was able to maintain balanced operations and strong liquidity.

“In no small way can this be attributed to the professional team we have in place in Rockville Centre, including Comptroller Michael Schussheim and Village Administrator Keith Spadaro,” he added.

Besides the benefit of the ratings making bonds more affordable for the village, and by extension its residents, being rated highly has other benefits for Rockville Centre as well.

“It makes our village that more attractive for companies and homeowners to locate in a community with fiscal discipline, professional management and a strong economy,” Scully said.