Credit Ratings & Bond Information

North Carolina is quite unusual among the state requiring state approval before most local government borrowing transactions.

The approval is the responsibility of the Local Government Commission, an agency in the Department of the State Treasurer. The commission was created during the Great Depression, when North Carolina had more local governments in default on debt than any other state in the United States except Florida.

Maintaining or Improving Bond Ratings

Two national bond rating agencies, Moody's and S & P, valuate the debt of North Carolina counties and towns that issue debt. Their ratings affect the interest rates charged on debt and address the financial condition and practices and underlying economies of the debt issuers.

Our ratings keep improving! Those improvements keep financing costs low, can bring considerable savings in financing the Town's long-term debt and signal to businesses looking to locate here that we are a town that's on solid financial ground!

Ratings

Standard & Poor's Rating's Service: AA+

This rating puts Clayton into some elite company, among the few towns in the state with the highest rating a small town has received. (Upgraded from AA in 2021.)

Moody's Investors Service: Aa1

This credit rating indicates our investment grade is rated as high quality and we're a very low credit risk. (Upgraded from Aa2 in 2021.)

See our history of ratings (PDF) since 2009!

These rating increases are all influenced by the Town experiencing a substantial resurgence of economic growth in the wake of the national slowdown. The primary underlying factors are expansions in the medical services sector with expansions of the public Johnston Health facility and private medical offices, featuring specialty practices and outpatient services. The housing sector has also recovered, with particular demand for upscale multifamily housing consisting of both apartments and townhomes. This renewed growth trend is supporting strong tax base growth, which has provided financial flexibility for capital spending; an overall strong financial position highlighted by the maintenance of a very favorable unassigned fund balance; and a manageable debt burden with rapid amortization.