Hoboken Standard & Poor Rating May Help Fuel Construction: Mayor

HOBOKEN, NJ — You’ve got to give Hoboken credit… Standard & Poor's just did.

On Monday, municipal officials announced that Standard & Poor's Global Ratings has assigned its AA+ long-term rating to the City of Hoboken, the rating agency's second-highest rating. S&P cited Hoboken's "very strong economy," "strong budgetary performance," "very strong budgetary flexibility" and "very strong liquidity."

According to Hoboken officials, the recent Standard & Poor's rating is another sign that the city’s finances are making a comeback from 2008, when Moody’s issued a Baa3 rating (the S&P equivalent of BBB-), just a notch above junk bond status, to hospital bonds guaranteed by the City of Hoboken.

In 2008, Moody’s cited the city’s "significant deferred charges, annual cash flow borrowing, and a history of financial mismanagement,” a situation that Mayor Ravi Bhalla said was getting further in the rearview mirror.

• See related article: Hoboken Becomes A High Grade Credit Under Mayor Zimmer

"A strong credit rating and sound financials form the foundation of a healthy government that can be responsive to the needs of the community," Bhalla said. "I'm committed to being Hoboken's infrastructure mayor, and our high credit rating will allow us to make the investments we need while being responsible with taxpayers' money.”

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