Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has bestowed a positive upgrade to New Britain’s bond rating, increasing it to “A+” with a stable outlook. That’s the highest bond rating the city has received from the agency since 2008.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said in a statement since she took over the city’s bond rating has increased four notches. She said the good bond rating comes on the heels of a 2014-15 audit confirming a $14.9 million budget surplus.
According to the mayor’s office, Standard & Poor’s cited positive performance indicators by the city as the primary drivers for the increase, including:
- A 2016 budget that is structurally balanced without the use of one-time revenue or expenditure cuts or reserves;
- The presence of operating surpluses in the General Fund for the 2015 fiscal year;
- Strong and improving levels of cash on hand;
- The implementation of high deductible health plans for employees; and,
- A debt load that is set to be retired within 10 years.
The rating agency also noted a number of developments within the city that are having a positive effect on the local economy. Standard & Poor’s cited:
- The rapid bus transit system CTFastrak as having “better-than-projected” ridership
- The rehabilitation of the long vacant Berkowitz building;
- The $35 million private investment being made to convert the former Landers Frary and Clark factory into condominiums;
- The signing of a contract with the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball to have the New Britain Bees play in the city; and,
- Work being undertaken to convert the former police station into a major mixed-used development.
In its findings, Standard and Poor’s cited difficult financial decisions Stewart took upon entering office in 2013 to address a $30 million budget deficit, including cutting $16 million in expenditures from the 2014-15 budget through significant reductions in spending, the elimination of vacant positions, and an 11 percent increase in taxes.
