Suffolk County successfully did what few New York municipalities were able to do as of late.
The county yesterday was able to complete the sale of $85 million in short-term notes and $88 million in long-term bonds.
The county received a satisfactory interest rate of 4.95 percent from Prager Sealy & Co. Counties must borrow money twice a year to pay for their programs and services. The money is paid back when revenues come in from property and mortgage taxes, Comptroller Joe Sawicki said.
“Our notes once again received the highest ratings from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch and our bond ratings were confirmed at Aa3, AA and AA-, so we knew that if investors were looking to buy municipal bonds, they would bid on our debt,” Sawicki said.
The county’s bond sale was the largest by a local jurisdiction in the state since the financial crisis began last month.
“When critics wonder why we concern ourselves with controlling spending and tightly protecting reserves, the answer is that this is why we do what we do,” County Executive Steve Levy said. “Given the economic uncertainty of the past six weeks, anything could have happened in the bond sale but I am pleased that we earned the confidence of the investment community in these times.”
