New Milford Improves Its Credit Rating

NEW MILFORD, CT — A major credit rating agency has removed the town's negative outlook and replaced it with a highly favorable Aa1 rating -- the agency's second highest bond rating, below AAA.

Town leaders broke the news about the turnaround at a meeting Monday evening, the News Times has reported.

In April. the town officials announced they were searching for creative ways to bridge the gap caused when $2.2 million of budgeted state money never appeared.

New Milford officials announced they would draw upon reserves, delay purchases and maintenance, and leave some vacated personnel positions unfilled or fill them less expensively than budgeted. Six layoffs, including the assistant police chief, assistant director of parks and recreation, the project manager in public works, the assistant tax assessor and a worker in the tax collector's office were announced in February.

After all that belt tightening, the town ended the last fiscal year with a surplus of about $167,000, and the big vote of confidence from Moody's.

For more, see the News Times.

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