Glen Ellyn Maintains Highest Bond Rating

Press release from the Village of Glen Ellyn:

The Village of Glen Ellyn is pleased to announce that the financial services firm S&P Global Ratings (S&P) has reaffirmed the Village’s AAA bond rating, which is the highest rating a municipality can obtain. The Village has maintained a AAA rating since 2015, allowing for savings as the Village sells bonds to finance capital projects. A full copy of S&P’s report can be found on the Village website.

The S&P report cites the following positive credit characteristics of the Village of Glen Ellyn:

• Very strong economy, with access to a broad and diverse metropolitan statistical area;
• Very strong management with strong financial policies and practices;
• Very strong budgetary flexibility, with an available fund balance in fiscal 2019 of 51% of operating expenditures; and
• Very strong liquidity and access to external liquidity S&P considers strong

The Village’s strong financial position allows it to weather uncertain economic times, as seen with the impact from COVID-19. In S&P’s report dated August 28, 2020 it states “Although the scope of economic and financial challenges posed by COVID-19 remains to be seen, given the Village’s extremely high reserve levels and history of well-managed finances, in our opinion, Glen Ellyn is well positioned to navigate the possible impact of the pandemic in the short-to-medium term.”

Since the onset of the pandemic, the Village has identified approximately $1 million in operating budget reductions as well as accessing reserve funds to mitigate the financial impact to the Village for 2020.

“This high bond rating is a testament to the Village’s strong fiscal management,” said Glen Ellyn Village Manager Mark Franz. “The success is a direct result of a Village Board, Village Finance Commission, as well as other Village Commissions, and management which have all been dedicated to long-range financial planning and sound fiscal management practices.” Franz also added, “The last three bond issuances have been done without raising the Village’s property tax levy to pay for the debt. The Village is very proud of its ability to issue bonds without seeking an increase from property taxes.”

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This press release was produced by the Village of Glen Ellyn. The views expressed here are the author’s own.