ARLINGTON – The city’s decreases in spending and additional reserves have won higher ratings from Moody’s Investors Service, a leading provider of credit ratings and risk analysis for municipalities and corporations.
City Administrator Paul Ellis said: “We suffered from an economic downturn in 2012 that hurt our credit rating but the city implemented an ongoing plan for economic renewal that has been endorsed by Moody’s.”
Moody’s report affirmed Arlington’s economic recovery by removing a “Negative Outlook” attached to the city’s bond rating.
Spending reductions have resulted in operating surpluses and increased revenue, the report says. Also, reserves have grown to $642,000 compared with 2011 when reserves were $23,000.
Moody’s ratings provide confidence for guidance for general obligation bond investors, insurance policies and other financial obligations by providing credible assessments of credit risk.
The city has worked to attract more industries and promoted its businesses and industrial parks, resulting in increased tax revenues and employment growth.
“Also, we survived the drop in the economy without reducing services,” Ellis said. “As the economy has improved, we’ve streamlined many of our operations.
After improving customer service last year by providing online service for permits, the city added new software that integrated permitting, land use, site civil engineering and the construction process into a single online system that cut costs and improved services to the public, Ellis said.
Moody’s noted that Arlington’s reserves are “still well below similarly rated cities nationally,” but Ellis said the city’s recovery plan is targeting a full-level of reserves by 2018.
