Tuscaloosa Mayor Touts City's Credit Ratings From Fitch & Moody's

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox on Thursday announced that the city has once again received a AAA credit rating from Fitch and a reaffirmed Aa1 rating by Moody's.

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"The City of Tuscaloosa's finances are elite," Maddox said during his Mayor's Minute on Thursday. "That's not my opinion. That's the opinion of Fitch and Moody's. Recently, the city was reaffirmed by both of these rating agencies because of our great financial management here at the city of Tuscaloosa."

Maddox pointed out that "extremely strong" reserves have put the city in a position to continue to invest back into the community.

He also said the AAA rating from Fitch places Tuscaloosa among the "elite" cities in Alabama.

Fitch Rating’s designations are based on key rating drivers, including revenue framework, expenditure framework, long-term liability burden and operating performance.

"Only Huntsville and Hoover join that category of major cities in our state," he said. "We are proud of these ratings. The strong financial management of this city is recognized across our nation. This took the work of many. I first want to thank our City Council, who has put into place conservative measures and approaches that make certain that this city remains financially strong. And I also want to thank our accounting and finance staff, led by Carly Standridge and her team. They do a great job managing your money, and it is your money.

"I promise you that every single day we wake up and we spend your money as if it were our own," Maddox added. "And you don't have to believe me. You can believe the rating agencies of Fitch and Moody's."

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