Newly announced $10 million grants for five downtown revitalization projects throughout New York State are a credit positive for the participating municipalities, according to Moody's Investors Service.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently revealed that Plattsburgh, Geneva, Middletown, Westbury and Elmira are the first recipients for a state-developed Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Moody's analysts Valentina Gomez and Vladimir Puchek note that the $10 million grants each local government is receiving can be used for new projects or to offset development costs already underway. The awards include $300,000 for a strategic planner.
"The grants provide significant investment in these small municipalities, which have limited tax-base growth or have below-average wealth levels, and stagnating populations, said Gomez and Puchek in a July 14 report. "Because the state is not restricting the grants to capital projects or new projects, the municipalities have the flexibility to use the funds for new initiatives or to offset the costs of projects that the municipalities were planning to fund from cash or additional debt issuance"
The Downtown Revitalization Initiative to help cities, towns and villages transform their downtown districts by formulating a strategic development plan, building on ongoing revitalization efforts and attracting additional investment. Moody's rates Elmira debt at Ba1 with a negative outlook, Westbury at Aa2 and Middletown at A1. Plattsburgh and Geneva are rated at A2 with negative outlooks by Moody's.
"Plattsburgh, Geneva and Elmira plan to leverage the colleges in their respective communities," said Gomez and Puchek. "Middletown, located in Orange County, and Westbury, located on Long Island, benefit from their proximity to employment centers in New York City, New Jersey and Long Island, but both have experienced some tax-base declines."
