December 8, 2011
Dec. 7, 2011 – Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle and City Finance Director, Pam Spaccarotella’s efforts to remove the negative outlook assigned to the city’s AAA bond rating by Moody’s Investors Service in August, paid off today with the restoration of its stable outlook. The Suttle administration traveled to Chicago in September to make an appeal to the bond rating agency in person, asking Moody’s to restore Omaha’s good standing despite the federal government’s credit rating downgrades.
The City of Omaha’s Finance Department was notified August 4, 2011 that Moody’s Investors Services assigned a negative outlook to the City of Omaha’s AAA rated General Obligation bonds. “This notification was a result of Moody’s announcement that the AAA rating of the U.S. government had been assigned a negative outlook,” said Finance Director, Pam Spaccarotella. “In order to keep Omaha taxpayers from paying $5-6 million in higher interest, we thought it was important to make Moody’s aware of this administration’s strong commitment to responsible financial management. Bond rating companies such as Moody’s and Standard and Poors look at several aspects of how a city manages its finances in determining a city’s credit rating, very much like how your personal credit score is determined. ”
“We cut spending in city government through performance based budgeting and balanced our budget in spite of millions of dollars of cuts in aid from the state and federal government,” said Mayor Suttle. “This year we continued to create efficiencies that greatly improve the administration of vital city services to our citizens, without tax increases and established a plan for building financial reserves. These accomplishments demonstrate that we have the political will to plan for the future while rising above the dependence of outside assistance to keep our community solvent.”
The City of Omaha’s General Obligation bonds were assigned a AAA rating with a negative outlook nearly 4 months ago along with 177 other local governments. Moody’s specifically stated that the outlook was moved to negative with a group of issuers identified as indirectly linked to the U.S. government rating based upon certain shared characteristics. Moody’s further stated that they would continue to evaluate each outlook on a case by case basis. Today Omaha officially restored a stable outlook to its AAA bond rating.
November 9, 2011
November 9. 2011 – Today, Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle and Director of Public Works, Bob Stubbe announced that the City of Omaha plans to hire five additional contractors to assist with this winter’s snow operations. The additional contractors will allow City crews to broaden their coverage to include newly annexed portions of the City without compromising efficiency in snow removal. “We have a responsibility to work with our citizens to provide safe streets and sidewalks as quickly and efficiently as possible both during and after a snowfall,” said Mayor Suttle. “However, we understand that we have limited resources available to us and we must maximize every dollar available.”
With the exception of the new contractors, the City’s Snow Plan remains unchanged from last year, when the City implemented its new “even-odd” Snow Emergency policy. “We anticipate the same success this winter as we embark on the second year of our updated snow policy,” said Bob Stubbe, Public Works Director. “Our plan requires residents east of 72nd St. to park on the “even” side of the street during even-numbered days, and the “odd” numbered side during odd-numbered days.”
“Our City’s snow plan can only be effective if we have the participation of our residents, said Mayor Suttle. “It is essential that we work together as a community to keep our streets clear and safe during the winter months.”
For more information on the City of Omaha Snow Operations Plan, please visit: http://www.cityofomaha.org/pw/snow/snow-plan/snow-operations.
September 19, 2011
September 19, 2011 (Omaha, NE)— Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle and City Finance Director, Pam Spaccarotella, are in Chicago today trying to preserve the City’s Aaa bond rating. “We will be making our case for this city to save its Aaa bond rating, in spite of the federal government’s downgrades,” said Mayor Suttle.
The City of Omaha’s Finance Department was notified August 4th that Moody’s Investors Services assigned a negative outlook to the City of Omaha’s Aaa rated General Obligation bonds. “This notification was a result of Moody’s announcement on August 2nd that the Aaa rating of the U.S. government had been assigned a negative outlook,”said Finance Director, Pam Spaccarotella.
“Bond rating companies such as Moody’s and Standard and Poors look at several aspects of how a city manages its finances in determining a city’s credit rating, very much like how your personal credit score is determined,” said Pam Spaccarotella.
“Despite the bumps and setbacks that go along with a troubled economy, we believe we have a good story to tell,” said Mayor Jim Suttle. “We have continued to cut spending in city government through performance based budgeting, balanced our budget in spite of millions of dollars of cuts in aid from the state and federal government. This year we continued to create efficiencies that greatly improve the administration of vital city services to our citizens, without tax increases and even established a plan for building financial reserves. These accomplishments demonstrate that we have the political will to plan for the future while rising above the dependence of outside assistance to keep our community solvent.”
The results of today’s meetings with Moody’s and Standard and Poors should be announced on Friday of this week or early next week.
Weekly Address by Mayor Jim Suttle September 19, 2011
