Bridgeport, CT— Mayor Ganim and Finance Director Flatto announced that the City received major bond rating upgrades from two credit rating agencies; Fitch Investor Service and Moody’s.
This is the first time in over two decades that two rating agencies upgraded the City of Bridgeport debt ratings in the same year and the first time since 2010 that the Park City has received a bond rating increase.
Earlier this week, Fitch Investor Service upgraded the City of Bridgeport bond debt rating from A to A+. Moody’s upgraded the bond debt rating from Baa3 to A3. S & P Global Ratings maintained its A rating with stable outlook.
As more investors are likely to bid on City bond sales due to the bond upgrades, the City of Bridgeport will be offered more competitive and lower rates and will benefit on this year’s bonding debt service costs. Over the next twenty years, the Finance Department projects a budgetary savings of between $2 and $4 million due to these lower debt service interest rates.
“We are pleased that the city's financial situation is improving, and we'll keep working hard every day to improve things for Bridgeport.” Mayor Ganim stated. “We applaud the hard work put in by the Finance and OPM departments their diligent efforts in maintaining and improving the City's bond ratings for the benefit of our taxpayers.”
Finance Director Kenneth Flatto said, “This is excellent news for our taxpayers since lower debt costs for the future will help future budgets and build confidence in the City’s ability to always meet financial objectives and obligations in a reliable and strong fashion.”
The City issuing $23 million in bonds this year. Eight million dollars is part of the City cost of the Bassick High School project and the remaining $15 million is for a variety of capital projects approved by the City Council in Spring 2022 which includes funds for road paving, facilities and parks improvements.
Original source can be found here.
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