Rossi: ‘We turned the corner’

S&P raises city’s bond rating outlook to positive

WEST HAVEN — City officials are heralding an improved bond credit outlook from S&P, which they perceive as further evidence that the city’s finances are recovering.

S&P changed the city’s bond rating outlook from stable to positive this year, a decision S&P analysts said was made

“based on structural budgetary changes and stronger budgetary controls evidenced by positive operations in both 2020 and 2021, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.”

Mayor Nancy Rossi, who entered office in 2017 when the city had a negative bond outlook, said it’s a sign of economic recovery in progress.

“We turned the corner. We’re doing well,” she said. “I want to stay the course and continue doing what we’re doing.”

Analysts said the city’s financial recovery has outperformed expectations.

“Notably, the city has benefited from state oversight and through state restructuring grants; however, its financial position has been improving quicker than anticipated, when compared to the original fiveyear financial plan it adopted,” the

S&P analysts wrote in the report. “The management team has been diligent in raising revenues and making budgetary modifications to ensure structural balance in the coming years.”

Analysts estimated a “one in three” chance that, if the city maintains its positive operations and achieves a structural balance without restructuring grants from the state Municipal Accountability Review Board, its bond rating could be raised from a BBB.

The analysts said the rating reflects an adequate economy with strong liquidity, institutional framework and a very strong debt and contingent liability profile, but weak management conditions and budgetary flexibility.

Rossi said the weaknesses cited in the report are addressed by the city’s five-year plan, such as plans to grow the city’s available fund balance.

“We have a line in the five-year plan to put more money into the general fund, essentially paying ourselves,”

she said.

Rossi said that she hopes the improved outlook will help to lower the city’s interest rate as it bonds for the new high school building.

“Every step we make in a positive direction is excellent news for the city of West Haven,” she said.

City Council Chairman Ron Quagliani, D-At Large, said the city has implemented “a series of fiscal controls that will serve as a road map for many years to come,” such as streamlining the city’s payroll process and auditing the city’s budget on time.

State Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw told city officials at the most recent MARB meeting that she thought the change to the outlook is “incredible.”

“There’s nothing like getting the report card recognizing the progress the city has made,” she said.

Rossi said she believes the change to the outlook makes the city “more marketable.”