South River Borough, N.J., Raised to AA by S&P

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has raised its rating on South River Borough, N.J.'s general obligation (GO) bonds to AA from A-plus.

The outlook is stable.

A pledge of the borough's full faith credit and resources and an agreement to levy ad valorem property taxes without limitation as to rate or amount secure these bonds.

"The upgrade is based on our recently released local GO criteria," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Michael Stock.

The rating reflects the following factors for the borough: strong economy, with projected per capital effective buying income as a percent of the U.S. at 102%; very strong budgetary flexibility, with reserves above 9% of expenditures in the past several years; and strong budgetary performance.

The stable outlook reflects the borough's continued consistent financial performance and underlying economy supported by good management. The rating agency does not anticipate changing the rating in its two-year outlook horizon due to its expectation that South River will maintain reserves at strong levels and continue to participate in the broad and diverse Middlesex County MSA economy.

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