STANDARD & POOR’S UPGRADES OUTLOOK OF CLARKSTOWN’S FINANCES TO “STABLE” AS TOWN’S “AA” BOND RATING IS REAFFIRMED ONCE AGAIN
New City, NY – Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann announced today that the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) reaffirmed the Town’s “AA” bond rating while upgrading the Town’s financial outlook from negative to stable.
In positively revising its outlook, S&P cited Clarkstown’s “track record of consistent, fact-based budgeting, which has translated to an improvement in overall financial performance” as well as the Town’s “growing commercial and residential development”, which they view as the foundation of Clarkstown’s “very strong “economy. S&P noted and emphasized “the positive operating trends over the past two years,” “ongoing expenditure control on a line-item basis combined with prior reforms that generated ongoing expenditure savings” and “a strong recovery in economically sensitive revenues, including sales and mortgage taxes” that “underpin the improvement in its financial position, despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
S&P’s review of Clarkstown’s finances comes in advance of the Town’s issuance of $12 million in General Obligation public improvement serial bonds and the refunding of $7.9 million in bonds, the proceeds of which will produce budgetary savings for the Town’s taxpayers.
“Standard & Poor’s optimistic outlook of the Town’s finances and economic conditions is great news for Clarkstown taxpayers. After many years of consistent deficit spending, we were able to right the ship with structural reforms that produced three years in a row of surplus, a feat that hasn’t been achieved in decades,” said Supervisor George Hoehmann, adding:
“This strong bond rating enables the Town to secure low interest rates to finance infrastructure projects that enhance the quality of life for Clarkstown residents and businesses.”
