Brick Township Assigned 'Superior' Rating on Bond Notes

Moody’s Investors Services, Inc. has assigned a MIG1 rating to Brick's $31 million Bond Anticipation Notes and an Aa2 to the Township’s $4.3 million General Obligation Pension Refunding Bonds, Series 2013, according to township officials.  Moody’s also affirmed the Aa2 rating on the Township’s $187.4 million of outstanding debt.

“We are thrilled that despite the impacts of Sandy, we were able to maintain our strong credit ratings,” said Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis in a prepared statement.  “While other Shore towns were recently downgraded by Moody’s, they affirmed the continued  fiscal strength and financial leadership of Brick Township and this administration.”

The MIG (Municipal Investment Grade) is used to rate US municipal bond anticipation notes of up to three years maturity.  MIG1 is the highest rating for short-term debt.  The designation “denotes superior credit quality,” according to township officials.

 Moody’s Aa2 rating is assigned to obligors who are “judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.”  It is their third highest rating on long-term debt.

The Township’s $187.4 million of outstanding debt includes $72.8 million in debt from the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority.  As the Township created the Authority, the town is obligated to back their debt although they are self sufficient and able to pay this debt on their own.

Moody’s cited Brick Township’s strong financial management and “demonstrated willingness to raise revenue and cut expenses” as factors in their rating assignments.

“This administration has worked hard to put Brick Township in a strong financial position.  We have made some difficult and some unpopular decisions along the way,” said Acropolis.  “To have a respected organization like Moody’s publicly tell investors that Brick Township has strong financial management and recognize our efforts to cut costs shows that we have been doing the right things for our taxpayers and for the future of our community.”

Among the cost cutting measures implemented by Acropolis include a staff reduction program that has reduced the size of the staff and saved millions in personnel costs, the negotiation of labor contracts more affordable for taxpayers, historic shared services agreements with neighboring municipalities and agencies, privatization of certain services such as custodial services in municipal facilities, the use of renewable energy to cut utility costs and more.

The strong ratings from Moody’s will help increase market access when issuing bonds and notes and will lead to lowered borrowing costs.

“Just like a citizen who gets lower APR on credit cards for their strong credit rating, the Township will get lower borrowing costs when we need to issue bonds and notes for projects and operations,” said Business Administrator Scott Pezarras.  “This equates to savings for taxpayers.”