August 2nd, 2022 –Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter is pleased to announce that Moody’s Analytics, Inc. once again has reaffirmed the Town’s financial Aaa status with a stable outlook for the 7th consecutive time. The Town’s rating was first upgraded in March 2016 to Aaa, and was reaffirmed Aaa in September, 2016; September, 2017; October, 2018; April 2019; October, 2020; April, 2021; and most recently in July, 2022.
The rating agency announced in its Aaa reassignment, “The stable outlook reflects expectation of continued strong operations given prudent management and continued growth and diversification in the local economy. Financial management is strong as evidenced by consistently sound reserves, and an informal policy to maintain unassigned reserves above 10%,” according to the agency’s press release. The Town also benefits from strong fiscal management, ample reserves and liquidity despite the challenges posed by Coronavirus, and manageable debt and pension burden, noted Moody’s analysis. The Town’s sizeable tax base in the greater NYC metro region was highlighted as a credit strength. In particular, the analysis cites revenue from three major parcels of land that had previously been off the tax rolls and were recently sold--two projects in Bay Shore, to include an apartment complex and possibly an assisted living facility, and an apartment complex in Central Islip spanning 87 acres.
The analysis also recognized the unique fact that despite the Town’s exposure to environmental risks and extreme weather events, a combination of strong management and state and federal assistance make these events manageable, along with the dedication of the Town’s workforce.
“I am pleased that together with the cooperation of the Town Board, we were able to maintain our strong Aaa rating despite a time of high inflation and a pandemic,” said Supervisor Angie Carpenter. “We continue working closely with our commissioners to tighten budgets as necessary, making certain that each and every taxpayer dollar spent is done with the utmost scrutiny. We have continued our zero-based budgeting to our spending plans, assuring that no projects move forward unless they are deemed truly essential. These are the strategies that enabled us to get the initial upgrade early in 2016, and which we continue to adhere to as we move forward through these challenging times,” she said.
Supervisor Carpenter, Comptroller Joe Ludwig and staff met in early 2016 with representatives from Moody’s, closely analyzing the Town’s financial documents and conducting a tour of Islip’s tremendous resources. At that time, Moody’s upgraded the Town’s bond rating to Aaa, the highest rating that can be assigned to a municipality.
“Our willingness to look at the process realistically is something that continues to have a positive impact with the rating agencies. The goal always has to be, to maximize our revenues and decrease our expenditures,” said Joseph Ludwig, Town of Islip Comptroller.
“The Town of Islip is committed to continued sound, appropriate, economic development, while at all times, preserving a good quality of life for our residents. Sometimes the decisions to be made are tough, but our residents deserve no less,” said Supervisor Carpenter.
Moody’s financial ratings are used by banks and others in the financial services industry, to determine the financial health of a given organization.
