The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
City maintains AAA bond rating for 5th year
“It speaks to the strength of the economy in Middletown and the stability of our finances.”
Mayor Ben Florsheim
MIDDLETOWN — The city has maintained its AAA Standard and Poor’s municipal bond rating for five consecutive years, a significant achievement that places Middletown among more affluent towns in Connecticut.
“It speaks to the strength of the economy in Middletown and the stability of our finances,” Mayor Ben Florsheim said Thursday.
He complimented the finance department, economic development team, former Mayor Dan Drew and current and past Common Council members. “They got us to where we thought we could never go and we stayed there without too much difficulty,” he added.
In 2005, the city’s rating was AA-. In 2014, S&P raised Middletown to AA+ from AA, the highest the city had ever received.
Typically, the AAA rating is seen in places with a higher per capita income, such as Avon, Greenwich, Darien and West Hartford, which have significantly higher median incomes among the population. “We’re breaking the mold there,” Florsheim said.
He took part in a press conference Thursday with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and city officials at Wilbert Snow School, which stressed the importance of residents completing the U.S. Census. Adequate federal funding for meal assistance to schools and other important services available to Connecticut residents all depend on robust participation.
Just a single uncounted child translates to a $2,900 annual loss in funding for the school system,
Bysiewicz said.
“Things such as a AAA bond rating enables us to borrow money very cheaply and effectively to do things like the new ($87.35 million) middle school project,” Florsheim said. The city also was able to pay off the loan for the new Middletown High School in 10 years rather than the typical 20.
Developers look at the financial stability of a municipality and the type of tax rates it expects to set.
“It means that we have to be more thoughtful about any projects we take on at any given time,” he added.
Middletown was scheduled to conduct a bond sale a couple of
weeks ago, but that was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and
subsequent closing of City Hall. The mayor expects it will take place next week.
“This is usually something that contributes a couple million dollars to our bottom line during our
budget season,” the mayor said. “Usually the municipal bond market is about as stable as it gets, but with all this market turmoil, that was going upside down.”
Florsheim took advantage
of the governor’s order extending the deadline to file proposed spending packages. The city charter places the deadline at April 1. Florsheim expects to release his next week.