Freeport gets good credit news

Moody’s Investors Service has assigned an A1 rating to the Village of Freeport’s $4.7 million serial bonds, citing a stable outlook on its overall finances.

In the report released last month, Moody’s noted Freeport’s improved budgetary practices and systems and indicated it expects the village’s operating results will stabilize in fiscal 2011 and 2012.

“We are extremely pleased that Moody’s recognized the tremendous efforts we have made concerning Freeport Village’s budgetary policies,” Mayor Andrew Hardwick said in a statement earlier this month. “Despite inheriting a massive deficit in 2009 at the start of my administration, we have quickly gotten spending under control and the village’s financial well-being is finally back on the right track.”

The credit rating agency affirmed the A1 on the village’s $131.5 million of outstanding long-term general obligation debt. Proceeds of the bonds will be used to finance various road improvements and capital projects.

The rating also incorporates the proposed sale of village land to replenish reserves to pre-2010 levels by fiscal year 2012, as well as the village’s largely residential tax base and expanding retail component.

Moody’s also noted the village’s efforts to reduce expenditures by 10 percent in its 2011 budget and Freeport’s projections to restore reserve funds to historical norms in fiscal year 2012.

Above: Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick