Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino and the Town Board have officially improved Town finances from a “junk bond” rating under the prior administration to an “A+” credit rating.  On July 30, 2021, Wall Street Credit Rating Agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings upgraded the Town of Oyster Bay’s credit rating by three levels due to the Town’s “substantially improved financial position, even amid the pandemic.” S&P cited the Town’s “robust operating performance” and “cost cutting” when also declaring a “positive outlook” for the Town’s future. This is great news as the Town will now pay significantly less money in interest expense when bonding for the costs associated with road repaving and other critical infrastructure improvements. In total, the Saladino administration has received five credit rating upgrades from Wall Street since 2017.

 

Supervisor Saladino stated, “Wall Street recognizes the many positive steps taken by my administration and the Town Board to put the problems of the past behind us and return fiscal stability to the Town. In just four years, we have received five credit rating upgrades and several increased outlook designations from Wall Street. We’ve successfully restricted spending, significantly paid down debt and maintained a tax cut given to residents in 2018. We will continue to keep our promise to taxpayers by protecting their wallets while delivering important services.”

 

Since taking office in 2017, Supervisor Saladino and the Town Board have cut property taxes while reducing debt and the operational budget deficit. In fact, the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Town Budgets sustained the $1.3 million property tax cut approved by the Town Board for 2018 by implementing a plan that froze taxes.  As a result, $5.2 million is in the pockets of taxpayers rather than the coffers of government.  Total Town debt has also declined by a historic $165 million. In addition, Supervisor Saladino and the Town Board successfully eliminated a multi-year operational deficit which hit a high of $44 million under the prior administration, turning it into a $47.6 million surplus as of December 31, 2020. This was the fourth straight surplus achieved by the Saladino administration. As a result of this combined success, the New York State Comptroller’s Office removed the Town of Oyster Bay from its fiscal stress-monitoring list for the first time since the program’s inception in 2013.