Babylon Town Maintains High Bond Rating

Back in 2013, Babylon officials celebrated when Moody's Investors Services awarded the town its third-highest bond rating. It was quite an accomplishment, because the town had been close to junk-bond status more than a decade earlier.

With care and planning, town officials pulled Babylon out of its financial hole. The town was awarded its first Aaa rating from Moody's in 2017.

In 2023, Moody's again assigned its highest municipal bond rating, Aaa, to Babylon’s $14 million Public Improvement Serial Bonds, town officials announced last week.

It's the sixth consecutive year for the top rating. The service cited the town’s dedication to conservative budgeting, strong operational oversight and ample reserves and liquidity to be the chief benefits to its credit profile.

"Once again, the Town of Babylon’s policies have received high praise from Moody’s, growing our reputation as one of the most fiscally sound townships in the region," Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer said in an announcement about the rating. "I am proud to serve on a Town Board that continues to address our financial issues head on and solve them with solutions that make the most sense for our current, as well as future, taxpayers. Through responsible budgeting and aggressive debt retirement, we have put the Town on solid economic footing."

In its report, Moody’s noted that Babylon’s economy is strong and expanding, pointed specifically to the growth of the hamlet of Wyandanch, and said the town has maintained manageable leverage and adjusted fixed costs. The investor service predicted that the town’s reserves will remain stable and strong, and that leverage will continue to be manageable.