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Politics & Government

County's Bond Rating Dipped to 'Negative' but Freeholders Say Impact is Minimal

AAA bond rating not at risk, Bartlett says

A blip on one of three rating agency radar screens keeping track of Ocean County’s finances is not going to turn into higher borrowing costs, according to Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr.

“We will do nothing to jeopardize the county’s AAA bond rating,’’ he said, after working for 32 years to get the county the top bond rating possible.

Fitch Ratings continues to give the county that bond rating, but last year downgraded its outlook for the future from stable to negative. Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s assign AAA ratings with stable outlooks.

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Democrat Michele Rosen of Waretown, who is running for freeholder against Director Joseph H. Vicari, pointed to the downgrade, saying she was not being “critical or saying you’ve done anything wrong.’’

She urged the all-Republican board to put its financial plan on line so the public could see it.

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Rosen said she realizes that reduced revenue to the Ocean County Clerk’s Office and from the state for housing inmates in the county jail have reduced the amount of money the freeholders have to spend.

Bartlett said the plan is already transparent. “It’s the 2011 county budget,’’ he said.

Fitch was concerned about the recession’s impact on revenues to the county government and cautioning against using too much of the county’s surplus to make up those losses, according to Bartlett.

“If we spend more than we can replace we’ll run the county out of the bank,’’ he said. This year’s budget uses no more surplus to offset spending than officials and “reasonably expect to replace,’’ he explained.

Fitch Ratings fears the county officials may be unable to meet future capital needs while maintaining “sustaining manageable debt ratios,’’ although it reported current debt levels are “affordable’’ at $3,079 per-person. Debt service too was rated manageable, with 71 percent of county debt repaid within 10 years.

The rating service said there had been small operating deficits for three years prior to 2010. The bond rating could be downgraded if the county cannot regain its “structural equilibrium within the next few years given the protracted economic downturn.’’

“We are not facing the problem the national government is facing,’’ said Freeholder Gerry P. Little, pointing to the nation’s soaring debt.

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