Township Of Montclair: S&P Global Affirms AAA Rating 5th Straight Year

Press release from the Township of Montclair:

10/13/2021

For the fifth straight year, Standard & Poor’s Global Rating Services assigned a AAA rating to Montclair Township’s series general obligation (GO) improvement bonds and series GO school bonds. The agency also affirmed its AAA rating on the Township's existing GO debt. The agency also cited the Township’s outlook as stable. 

AAA is the highest possible rating that may be assigned to an issuer's bonds. It helps lower the cost of borrowing for capital projects thereby saving taxpayer dollars. 

“Attaining a AAA rating for a fifth straight year is a truly remarkable achievement, especially given the global economic downturn that resulted from a worldwide pandemic,” said Mayor Spiller. “Our Township firmly remains in the ranks of top communities nationwide for creditworthiness and fiscal management – a testament to our strong financial policies of the last several years. A top rating translates into millions of dollars in savings for taxpayers and affords us greater flexibility as we continue bonding to invest in our Township and residents.” 

The report cites Montclair’s strong management which was able to quickly implement several cost-saving measures to offset reductions in “more economically sensitive revenues as a result of the pandemic, limiting budgetary pressure in the near term.” 

Standard & Poor's also cited the Township's historically conservative budgeting practices, remaining tax flexibility, growing reserves – factors that will continue to position the Township on a strong financial footing and will mitigate concerns regarding longer-term rising pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) costs. In addition, the agency cites the Township’s continued debt reduction policy – during the last eight years, Montclair’s debt was reduced from $223M in 2012 to $165M in 2020. 

Below are the highlights of the rating agency’s assessment of key areas. 

Very strong economy, with access to a broad and diverse metropolitan statistical area (MSA), but a high county unemployment rate exceeding 10%;

“Clearly the Township’s strong budgeting policies allow Montclair to maintain fiscal discipline,” added Councilor David Cummings, who sits on the Finance committee along with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. “We must continue our efforts to ensure the Township’s financial well-being for years to come.”

This press release was produced by the Township of Montclair. The views expressed here are the author’s own.