Rockland County, N.Y. Budget Review is Credit Positive: Moody's

A favorable review of Rockland County's 2015 budget by the New York state comptroller is a credit positive for the large suburban government following years of deterioration, Moody's Investors Service said Nov. 21.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office completed a review of the county's 2015 budget on Nov. 13 and said no amendments were needed, a first for Rockland since its fiscal plans were subjected to mandatory reviews starting in 2013.

Moody's analyst Robert Weber praised Rockland County officials for incorporating more conservative assumptions than previous years and for remaining within the state's tax cap for the first time since the law took effect in 2012. Weber also notes that the county is planning to increase its reserve position by $10 million to help plug its deficit, which DiNapoli estimates will be roughly $41 million at the end of the 2014 fiscal year.

"The improvement follows years of financial deterioration due to inaccurate budgeting that opened up the deficit position," said Weber. "The county budgeted aggressively for economically sensitive revenues such as sales taxes, which would often come in less than budgeted."

Moody's upgraded Rockland's general obligation bonds to Baa2 from Baa3 this past July a year after DiNapoli identified the county as one of the most fiscally stressed governments in New York. Weber said the county's tax base slowed following the 2008 recession, but a recently-opened mall in Nanuet should provide a sales tax boost going forward.

Rockland County, about 25 miles north of Manhattan, had a population of 311,687 in the 2010 census.

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