US Cities and Counties Proposed Methodological Updates
Moody's released a Request for Comment on a proposed new methodology for US cities and counties. Analysts will discuss the main changes and updates, the analytic reasoning behind them, and what they mean for ratings.
- Overview of the proposed methodology, including issuer and debt instrument ratings
- Analytical factors and considerations used to arrive at issuer ratings
- Debt instrument ratings and how we propose to assign them relative to the issuer rating
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SpeakersNaomi Richman Senior Vice President, US Public Finance Moody's Investors Service
Rachel Cortez Associate Managing Director, US Public Finance Moody's Investors Service
Matthew Butler Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, US Public Finance Moody's Investors Service
Douglas Goldmacher Vice President / Senior Analyst Moody's Investors Service
Kenneth Surgenor AVP-Analyst Moody's Investors Service
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Naomi Richman is a Senior Vice President in Moody's US Public Finance Group. Naomi manages the Surveillance team and Data and Analytics team. She is also responsible for contributing to state and local government analytical initiatives, research and methodologies. Naomi was previously a Managing Director in US Public Finance and Chief Credit Officer for global public sector ratings. Naomi has over 35 years of experience in credit analysis at Moody's, covering state and local governments, housing, higher education, financial guarantors, and global sovereigns.
Prior to joining Moody's, Naomi spent four years with the New York City Department of Finance. Naomi holds an MPP from Harvard University and an AB from Bryn Mawr College.
Rachel Cortez is a Senior Vice President/Manager with the US Public Finance Group of Moody’s Investors Service. As Co-Manager of Moody’s Chicago office, Rachel oversees local government credits in ten Midwest states. She has extensive experience covering tax-backed and revenue-secured credits issued by US local governments and not-for profit health care organizations.
Prior to joining Moody’s in 2005, Rachel spent five years with American Management Systems (now CGI Group), where she implemented budget and financial management systems for state and local governments. She was also a Medicaid Budget Analyst with the State of Illinois Bureau of the Budget (now Office of Management and Budget) and spent several years working in development and fundraising for a Chicago not-for-profit organization.
Rachel is a former President of the Chicago Municipal Analysts Society (CMAS) and served on the Board of Governors of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA). Rachel received an MPA from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and a BA in Government from Cornell University
Matthew Butler is a Vice President-Senior Credit Officer on the US State Ratings Team. He is lead analyst for several states, including California and Pennsylvania. He spent over seven years as a local government credit analyst and was previously lead analyst for the cities of Chicago and Detroit as well as others throughout the Midwest. Prior to joining Moody’s, Matthew was a budget analyst with the State of Michigan and an analyst with the Government Accountability Office in both Washington, DC and Chicago. Matthew holds an MPP degree from the University of Massachusetts and an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.
Douglas is a Vice President/Senior Analyst in Moody’s Public Finance Group and the lead analyst for local government credits in New Jersey. He joined Moody’s in 2013 and has experience in a diverse portfolio of local government, enterprise, federal lease and mass transit credits.
He is also the author of numerous research pieces including “Decoding New Jersey Municipal Accounting” which explains the adjustments Moody’s makes to New Jersey fund balances.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Douglas worked for Xerox. He received his BA from Duke University with a double major in History and French. He holds an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business
Ken Surgenor is an Analyst for the Dallas Local Governments Ratings Team covering credits primarily in Missouri, Kansas, Louisiana, and Texas. He is the lead analyst for Missouri local governments. Ken also serves on the Enterprise Risk Task Force.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Ken worked for the City of San Antonio in the Office of Management and Budget. Ken holds a Master’s of Public Service and Administration from Texas A&M University and a BS from the University of Texas at Dallas