Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino today announced that Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings has upgraded the Town’s long-term credit rating from junk bond status to investment grade.  S&P has assigned a BBB- rating to much of Oyster Bay’s bonds and has affirmed its stable outlook.  The Town is credited by S&P for its strong budgetary performance under the Saladino administration in 2017 and 2018.

The agency reported, “The general fund surplus is the first positive result the town has produced in the last 12 fiscal years.”

Supervisor Saladino stated, “This upgrade is the best financial news Oyster Bay has had in years.    We are being recognized by Wall Street after independent reviews and this great news clearly proves the bold steps we have taken to fix Oyster Bay’s finances. My administration put a stop to the past practice of endlessly borrowing against the future, and paid off $84 million in 2017.  We will continue to improve our finances and pay down another $50 million in debt this year.”

S&P highlighted the Town’s commitment to “reducing its debt load and indeed has retired roughly $84 million of debt in 2017 alone.”  The Town historically borrowed up to $100 million a year for capital projects.  However, the Saladino administration reversed this trend in 2017 by not borrowing a single dime for capital projects – the first time in history the Town accomplished such a goal!  In cooperation with the Town Board, the administration accelerated debt service payments.  Debt service payments in the 2018 Budget are estimated to help decrease the Town’s total debt by an additional $50 million.

“The stable outlook recognizes a structurally balanced budget underpinned by improved management practices and budgetary assumptions,” the agency said.

Supervisor Saladino added, “We are very proud to be recognized for our responsible budgeting and financial stewardship of this Town.  I am committed to bringing us back to where we belong and Wall Street agrees we are headed in the right direction.”

S&P highlighted the Town’s stronger budgetary performance in fiscal years 2017 and 2018, which do not rely on one-time revenues.  The agency recognized the Town for restoring structural balance to its budget with more realistic assumptions, and acknowledged the multi-million dollar forecasted surpluses for 2017 and 2018.