Eight northeast issuers with a combined $382.3 million in debt have been placed on review by Moody's Investors Service.
Among the localities cited is the town of Ramapo, N.Y., which Moody's slashed two notches to A3 last May following federal fraud charges against town officials for alleged misstatements of financial reporting to finance a $60 million minor league baseball stadium. The other municipalities placed on review include the city of Ithaca, N.Y., St. Lawrence County, N.Y., town of Blooming, N.Y., town of Hampton, N.H., borough of Northhampton, Pa., village of Montebello, N.Y., and the Bridgehampton Fire District, N.Y.
"The review is prompted by the lack of sufficient, current financial information," said Moody's analyst Susanne Siebel in a Jan. 3 release. "If the information is not received over the next 30 days, we will take appropriate rating action which could include the withdrawal or lowering of the ratings."
Moody's concurrently placed Ithaca's MIG1 bond anticipation note rating on review for a possible downgrade. The action was prompted due to the potential withdrawal of Ithaca's long-term rating, which if implemented would also result in the withdrawal of the city's BAN 2016 series C, according to Siebel.
