Ralston’s Bond Rating Improves After Concerted Effort By Mayor, City Council
Ralston’s Bond Rating Improves After Concerted Effort By Mayor, City Council
The Daily Record
The City of Ralston got good news recently when the bond-rating agency Standard & Poor took its first step in September toward improving thew city’s bond rating, raising Ralston’s outlook from negative to stable.
Bond ratings are akin to a personal credit score, except for a city.
Below are some of the key steps taken by Ralston’s city officials, including Mayor Don Groesser and the City Council, according to information provided by the city:
• Paid off $2.9 million in short-term borrowing in the 2020-21 budget. Rating agencies see short-term borrowing as a weakness, so the city completely eliminated all of the city’s short-term debt.
• The city now has a 32% cash balance. Cash balance is critical to solving unexpected issues while providing cash flow that prevents negative account balances. Before a concerted effort to improve this category was made, Ralston’s cash balance was 15%.
• Ralston implemented its first capital improvement plan in 2020. The plan maps out a schedule and identifies how funds are dispersed for improvements to streets, sewers, parks and city facilities. S&P specifically identified a CIP as something they needed to see.
“These successes in budget management didn’t happen by accident,” Ralston City Administrator Rick Hoppe said in the October city newsletter. “They were the result of tough budget choices over the last few years. I completely understand the frustration of residents who want park equipment replaced or potholes filled more quickly. But those service cuts allowed us to pay off debt and set Ralston up for a much brighter future.”
Hoppe added that another benefit of the city’s financial efforts is now having funds that would have gone toward debt service can now be used for community needs. One real-life example is City Hall funding street panel replacement for the first time in several years.
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