Moody's Upgrades Glen Cove Bond Ratings

by Niall Fitzgerald

Glen Cove's bond ratings are improving under its new Mayor Pam Panzenbeck (R), saving taxpayers millions in lower interest and finance costs.

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded the City of Glen Cove's Public Improvement Serial Bonds, 2022 Series A, to a strong "Baa2" rating. "Bond ratings are essential tools which alert investors to the quality and stability of a particular bond. These ratings consequently highly influence interest rates, investment desires and bond pricing," stated Moody's, adding that Glen Cove's "Improved governance is a key driver of the rating given the significant improvement made in budgeting." The City of Glen Cove’s credit strengths include large-scale construction projects such as RXR Garvies Point Development and the Livingston (Villa) Project which will eventually add to the Glen Cove tax base. According to Mayor Panzenbeck, one factor that may lead to future upgrades is improvements in reserves and liquidity. Another credit strength is the available capacity to generate revenue. This is being addressed by revising stagnant department fees to make them comparable with market and neighboring municipalities. Panzenbeck pledges that her administration will continue the process of developing long-term planning initiatives, addressing the excessively low-fund balances with the intent of growing reserves, stabilizing taxes for future budgets, maintaining services, eliminating non-essential and wasteful spending and implementing new sources of revenue. "We are dedicated to improving our standing," stated Panzenbeck. "We work extremely hard to ensure that we stay within the confines of a budget and strive for continuing positive results."