Moody's Investors Service downgrades the village of Morton Grove, Ill.'s general obligation rating to Aa3 from Aa2.
Concurrently, Moody's assigns a Aa3 rating to the village's $10.3 million GOs, Series 2015. Post-sale, the village will have $23.4 million in GO debt outstanding, of which $13.9 million is rated by Moody's.
The Aa3 reflects the village's moderately sized but declining tax base located in the Chicago (Baa1/negative) metro area, strong demographic profile, healthy fund balance but narrow cash reserves due to a large contingent liability, and a manageable debt burden.
The rating also reflects a high adjusted net pension liability relative to tax base and revenue, as well as the village's flexibility to raise revenue given its status as an Illinois (A3/negative) home rule community.
