Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux on Tuesday responded to Moody’s lowering the city’s General Obligation and Senior Lien Revenue ratings from Baa3 to Baa2 and recommending a downgrade of its Junior Lien Revenue rating to Ba1 from Ba3.
The city is currently undertaking a revenue refunding of existing Water and Sewer Revenue bonds. The refunding is expected to save the city over $8 million in long-term debt costs and improve the city’s ability to invest in its water and sewer systems.
According to a news release from Arceneaux’s office, one reason Moody’s listed for the negative outlook is the increased long-term financial obligation “expected from the consent decree capital needs.” In 2014, the City of Shreveport entered into a Federal Consent Decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to address findings related to the aging city sewer infrastructure and related sanitary sewer overflows…