From the Township of South Orange Village:
(June 27, 2022) – Karen Hartshorn Hilton, South Orange Village Trustee, and Chair of the Village Finance Committee, announced that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings has upgraded South Orange Village’s Bond Rating, from AA- to AA.” Hartshorn Hilton added, “This is the second year in a row that S&P has improved our rating, continuing to strengthen our financial position and favorably impacting the funding of our capital projects.”
South Orange CFO, Chris Battaglia, expanded on that statement, stating, “The recent favorable S&P report had an immediate benefit to taxpayers, evidenced by a concurrent note sale. The Village received 8 bids on our note sale, with the award going to BNY Mellon at 2.4989%. The average award was closer to 2.75% and one was as high as 3.46%. In dollars, that’s a savings of $55k to as much as $209k in just a one-year issue. The compounded savings on our expected long-term bond issues will be exponentially higher.”
The S&P report states “South Orange Village’s general credit worthiness is characterized by the township’s strong operating performance throughout the pandemic despite some of the revenue pressures imposed by the pandemic. Specifically, in the past few fiscal years, management’s emphasis on building reserves through conservative budgeting has increased the township’s flexibility to withstand potential adverse operating conditions.”
President Sheena Collum noted, “We’re thrilled that S&P has again recognized our efforts to maintain a strong financial position. This upgraded rating shows that our financial strategy continues to be on the right path. This is excellent news for our taxpayers and the fiscal health of our community.”
S&P is a leading provider of transparent and independent credit ratings worldwide. The full S&P report created for the South Orange Village is available to download here.
