LEGISLATURE STUFF - To Be Or Not to Be a Borrower

CATSKILL - When it comes to the Greene County Legislature, the great bard, William Shakespeare, knew not of what he spoke, warning that a person should neither a borrower nor lender be.

County administrator Shaun Groden, in a WRIP radio interview the day before Thanksgiving, reported that the county had just received a very positive credit rating from Moody’s Ratings.

“I’m a happy camper today,” Groden said, noting that Moody’s is one of the so-called Big Three credit rating companies.

Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and the Fitch Group are independent agencies “providing international financial research on bonds issued by commercial and government entities,” according to Wikipedia.

While it may sound like monetary mumbo-jumbo, the good word put in by Moody’s means a lot to the county and we humble mules of taxation.

The agency, in a November 27 press release, stated, “Moody’s Ratings has upgraded the issuer rating for Greene County, New York, to Aa1 from Aa2. 

“Additionally, we have upgraded the county's outstanding general obligation limited tax (GOLT) bonds to Aa1 from Aa2. 

“Finally, we have assigned a MIG 1 rating to the county's $20 million Bond Anticipation Notes, 2024.

“Post sale, the county will have approximately $75 million in debt outstanding,” the Moody’s release states.

“The upgrade to Aa1 reflects the improvement in the county's financial position that is expected to remain steady going forward.”

That anticipated steadiness is, “in part due to conservative budgeting around the county's sales tax receipts which are up 4% year to date.

“Additionally, the upgrade reflects the reduction in the county's long term liability profile, with no additional debt expected following the issuance of the 2024 notes.

‘The MIG 1 rating reflects the county's strong underlying credit quality, as evidenced by its Aa1 issuer rating and history of market access,” the Moody’s release states. 

This is the second time in recent years the county has been publicly and professionally marked as a trusted borrower, an important element in getting things done, Shakespeare or no Shakespeare.

Putting the Moody’s information in layman’s terms, “this is basically a report card on the county’s finances in terms of our history, our future and our present.,” Groden said.

“We got straight A’s. The [legislature] should be proud of this because it talks about the strength of the county’s finances,” Groden said.

Moody’s report focuses on a $20 million bond authorized by the legislature, last year, to help finance the creation of a new Justice Center wing on the existing county courthouse, an overall $29 million project.

Greene County was similarly bird-dogged, five years ago, when debt was incurred to build a new jail, likewise being rated by Moody’s as reliable.

“What this says to the investment industry is that they can have complete confidence that Greene County is somebody you would want to loan money to,” Groden said.

Equally as important as the trustworthy reputation is the fiscal fact that the county is, “gaining the benefit of our [budgetary] prudence.

“We are living in a topsy-turvy world. That’s why we try to be conservative in our [annual] budgetary practices,” Groden said.

“We use the KISS principle, keep it simple. We don’t run in the red. We have surplus and we should always have surplus.

“That surplus can be used in ensuing years. We have had six straight budgets without a property tax increase and I see the same thing happening with the 2026 and 2027 budgets. 

“For some people, thinking about this stuff may be a way to end insomnia,” Groden said, laughing. “But this is serious stuff.

“We’re a business and it says we aren’t going out of business. That we are well run. We have an overall $136 million budget. We employ 520 people.  

This legislature makes tough decisions. They are to be congratulated.”