Somerset County continues to enjoy a high ranking with Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, after the bond credit rating outfit continued to bestow the county with its coveted triple-A rating.
Freeholder Director Patrick Scaglione said the announcement on Tuesday vindicates the county’s efforts to make sure its financial house is in order.
“Somerset County continues its sound financial planning practices, as evidenced by the triple-A ratings,” Scaglione said. “Higher ratings mean lower interest rates and substantial savings for our taxpayers.”
Moody’s Global Long-Term Rating Scale defines a triple-A rating as one given to entities that “are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.” To put that into perspective, just 12 countries in the world have the same rating.
According to a May 2017 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, New Jersey currently as an A2 ranking from Moody’s, which is defined as an “upper-medium grade and low credit risk.”
“Somerset County has a history of strong management and conservative budgeting,” the service wrote when it issued the rating Monday. “The county has a long-standing debt and capital plan, which enables it to maintain stable debt service. In addition, the county has a history of seeking shared service agreements to reduce expenditures. And the county maintains a formal five-year financial forecast to appropriately manage operations.”
Officials said the continued triple-A designation allows the county to not only receive low-interest financing for its projects, but also helps municipal and school projects funded through the Somerset County Improvement Authority.
For the last 32 years, the county has received the triple-A rating, is just one of 100 counties throughout the country with that distinction and one of six counties in New Jersey with the rating.
“Once again Somerset County was recognized for effective and efficient government. We spend wisely, invest in infrastructure prudently, we keep taxes stable,” Freeholder and Finance Chairman Mark Caliguire said. “What a great contrast to the State of New Jersey, where spending is not controlled and a slew of taxes were just increased.”
In addition to Moody’s, Standard & Poors wrote in its Monday assessment that the rating “reflects our assessment of the county’s very strong economy; strong management, with good financial policies and practices; strong budgetary performance; very strong budgetary flexibility; very strong liquidity; strong debt and contingent liability position and strong institutional framework score.”
