Suffolk County sells $152M in anticipation notes despite Moody's downgrade

Despite a recent Wall Street downgrading, Suffolk County has sold $152 million in bond and revenue anticipation notes at lower interest rates than before the bond rating dropped.

The county sold $37 million in bond anticipation notes over five years to pay for an arbitration award for county correction officers. It also sold $115 million in revenue anticipation notes, using state and federal aid as collateral, which will be repaid by next March. The interest rate on both is 0.61 percent.

While Moody’s Investor Service last month dropped the county’s bond rating two notches from A1 to Aa2 with a negative outlook, the rates on the new borrowings are below the 1.06 percent interest rate the county paid on revenue anticipation notes sold last April and the 0.67 percent rate the county paid for tax anticipation notes last December.

“In spite of the county’s recent downgrade due to Suffolk’s tight cash condition, Suffolk remains a good investment,” said county Comptroller Joseph Sawicki.

The notes were sold in a negotiated sale with TD Securities LLC as lead underwriter; Steine Agee was co-manager.