Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Atlantic County's Financial Support of Stockton AC Earns Positive Results

Stockton University’s recent credit rating increase by Moody’s Investor Services did not come as a surprise to Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, however, the immediate upgrade from negative to positive was unexpected.
 
“They bypassed a stable rating and went straight to positive,” noted Levinson, “and that is significant.”
 
One reason for the jump, according to Moody’s, was the successful completion of the university’s Atlantic City campus that was financially backed by Atlantic County.
 
“When the State of New Jersey could not finance the new campus because its own credit rating had been downgraded 11 times in eight years, Atlantic County stepped up,” stated Levinson. “Atlantic County was able to do so because we have maintained top tier credit ratings of Aa2 and AA from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, respectively, for the past 11 years as well as an extremely low net debt.”
 
Levinson said he and the Board of Freeholders are happy to see their confidence in Stockton University and the leadership of Dr. Harvey Kesselman, Stockton University President, is well-placed and the economic benefit of a quality educational institution is recognized and respected.
 
According to Standard & Poor’s report on Atlantic County, “the county’s strong fiscal policies have allowed it to maintain consistent balanced budgets, even during the uncertainty caused by Atlantic City’s tax appeals and fiscal distress.”
 
“The addition of Stockton University is helping to attract millennials and new businesses to Atlantic City, much in line with our overall economic development strategy to diversify the entire county. Atlantic City is poised to become a college town that will bring new interests and benefits to our area,” added Levinson.

“I truly believe that our best days are still ahead,” he concluded.

 

 

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