Wall Street's Standard & Poor's Credit-Rating Firm Reaffirms Its Assessment of Long Beach's Credit Rating (AA- "Strong"); Mayor Foster Says Action Confirms City Hall's "Fiscal Responsibility and Prudent Stewardship of Public Dollars," Addressing Budget Shortfalls "Through Managed Structural Budget Reductions"

Financial markets use ratings by Standard & Poor's and other firms to determine City Hall's costs for borrowing money (including debt bonds). (The better the credit rating, the lower the City's borrowing cost).

A City Hall release today quotes Mayor Bob Foster as saying, "This report is a confirmation of Long Beach’s fiscal responsibility and prudent stewardship of public dollars. Long Beach has a history of addressing our budget shortfalls every year through managed structural budget reductions, without relying on reserves or one-time funding sources that can lead to financial stress."

The City's release says Standard & Poor’s notes the City’s "Good financial performance, including managing through a period of softening revenue streams, with reserves of at least 10% of expenditures recently." The report also stated "The stable outlook reflects Standard & Poor's opinion that Long Beach will likely sustain its good financial performance, including the maintenance of strong reserves, during a period of revenue stress."

The release said that while other cities had come under increased financial scrutiny after bankruptcy filings by Stockton, Mammoth Lakes and San Bernardino and [release text] "California's generally adverse financial environment for cities," the release said Standard and Poor's action reaffirming Long Beach's credit rating [City release text] "highlights Long Beach’s proactive approach to financial management. The City has addressed slow growth in revenues and increasing costs through targeted structural budget reductions, while maintaining appropriate financial reserves."