Berkley's Credit Rating Upgraded

As Standard & Poor's' downgrade of the United States' credit rating Friday caused investors to fret, sending stocks plunging Monday, the city of Berkley was celebrating an improvement in its own credit rating.

The city's bond rating company, Fitch Ratings, has decided to maintain Berkley's long-term rating and upgrade its outlook.

"We just verbally received our credit rating and the good news is we're going to keep our AA status," City Manager Jane Bais-DiSessa said Monday. "The even better news is they're going to move us from a negative outlook to a stable outlook."

The rating is one step below the top Fitch rating of AAA. 

Bais-DiSessa likened an AA rating to receiving an A-minus instead of an A-plus on a report card. Rating outlooks "indicate the direction a rating is likely to move over a one- to two-year period," according to the bond rating company.

Berkley Financial Director David Sabuda said the changes mean it won't cost the city as much to borrow money and its credit lines will be slightly larger.

"(Fitch is) attributing the change to management," Bais-DiSessa said. "So, I am very excited."

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Sabuda added that the city's improved rating also reflects well on Oakland County, but warned that Berkley and its neighbors aren't out of the woods yet.

"We have some challenges we're going to be facing," Bais-DiSessa said. "We have some steps we're going to need to be taking and it's going to be tough if we're going to go to the next level and become even greater."

But, she added: "Some cities would die to have that rating, so it's not all doom and gloom."