Essex County Maintains Moody AAA Rating – Newark, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County has maintained its AAA Rating from Moody’s Investors Service throughout the pandemic, county executive Joseph DiVincenzo announced on Thursday.

In a release, DiVincenzo said his fiscal management staff have met with each department director and constitutional officer since the pandemic began to develop a plan for 2021.

“When it became apparent back in January that the Coronavirus would be a reality in our lives, we began planning not only for a public health emergency but also started preparing for the financial impact,” the county executive said in a statement. “Despite the added pressures created by the pandemic, Moody’s affirming our Aaa rating demonstrates their continued confidence in Essex County’s fiscal strength.”

The report from Moody’s states Essex County takes refuge in its “large, diverse tax base, strong finances, favorable location, and modest leverage.”

“Management expects to lose modest amounts of non-property tax revenues, as a result, reserves may decline slightly,” the report reads. “This is not expected to have any material impact on the county’s overall financial strength.”

Essex County received its first-ever AAA bond rating from Moody’s in 2018.