Cities and states should manage their money with caution even amid improving conditions, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer told an investor group.
"Even in good times, you also recognize you have to be careful," Stringer said Tuesday at a conference at the New York Marriott Downtown hotel near the World Trade Center site. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, celebrating its 40th anniversary, and the Municipal Forum of New York were co-sponsors.
"You have to look at other places," he added, citing problems in Puerto Rico and Greece.
New York this week is offering $750 million of general obligation bonds. Moody's Investors Service rates the city's general obligation bonds Aa2. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's rate them AA.
While the city enjoys strong bond ratings for its variety of credits, the dark days of 40 years ago should continue to be a stark lesson. "I don't have to remind anyone how close we came to financial disaster in the mid-1970s," said Stringer.
Stringer urged investors and public officials to acknowledge the public benefit of municipal bonds. "You're not here to sell bonds," he said. "You're here to help finance public needs at an affordable cost."
He said the city's budgeting process is a national model, citing the adaptation of generally accepted accounting principles since 1981; long-term financial plans and quarterly statements; and growth in New York's population since 1980 from 7.1 million to 8.5 million.
