City Manager Alan Carson has announced that the City of Thomasville was notified last week of an increase to the City’s credit rating. Standard & Poors Global Ratings (S&P) raised its issuer credit rating (ICR) for the City of Thomasville from an “A positive” to an “A+ stable”. Much like an individual’s credit score, the City’s credit rating is used by investors to gauge the City’s creditworthiness, with a better credit rating leading to lower interest rates.
Carson said that this is actually the second upgrade the City has received over the last two years. “We were raised from an ‘A stable outlook’ to an ‘A positive outlook’ in 2022,” he said. “To receive a second upgrade in so short of a time from S&P is confirmation that the hard work of our leadership team together with our City Council is making a difference in the City’s financial position.”
Ashley Cason, Chief Financial Officer, explained that this rating upgrade also reflects S&P’s view of the City’s improved financial position. “Our reviewers noted that they were pleased with the actions taken by City leadership to repair our finances and increase general fund reserves to more than 15%. This combined with policies that are aimed at diversifying income to lessen our reliance on enterprise funds lead to the favorable review,” she said.
Over the past several years, the City of Thomasville has diligently worked to implement stronger financial management practices in several key areas. “We hired financial advisors, Davenport and Associates, and together with their guidance our staff and City Council made adjustments aimed at stabilizing the City’s finances,” said Cason. “Some of these adjustments included the adoption of financial policies that formalized reserve benchmarks for our enterprise funds. In fact, the S&P report noted the transparency, integrity, and quality of these performance-driven analytics and their direct reflection on the stability of our City’s finances.”
“This ratings upgrade is a reflection of the hard work of our entire leadership team and our Financial Services Department,” said Carson. “I want to especially highlight the outstanding work of Chief Financial Officer Ashley Cason for her diligent work and leadership in implementing the stronger financial management practices and formalized reserve policies,” he said. “We’re proud of this recognition as it confirms improvements in our fiscal activities and builds community trust in city government.”
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