DERBY – A ratings agency no longer has a negative outlook on the city’s finances.
In a report published April 23, S&P Global Ratings revised Derby’s outlook from negative to stable. The report also reaffirmed the city’s AA- bond rating.
S&P Global Ratings pointed to Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s financial stewardship, which included hiring Brian Hall as the city finance director. Hall was hired on an interim basis in December 2023, a month after DiMartino was elected to his first term. Hall was hired full-time in April 2024, with approval by the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen.
“The outlook revision reflects Derby’s enhanced reserve position, the result of a return to balanced-to-positive operations that we expect will continue,” according to the report.
Previously . . .
Derby’s history of audit problems and budget mistakes has local officials appearing regularly in front of the Municipal Finance Advisory Commission (MFAC).
The issues included accidentally double counting grant money, not reconciling bank accounts with the school district, not using modern accounting software, and repeatedly not handing audits in on time.
The city started appearing in front of MFAC voluntarily in September 2020 and unveiled a fiscal recovery plan. However, the appearances became mandatory in 2023, after MFAC members said the city wasn’t making enough progress putting its financial house in order.
The city also had a revolving door of finance directors, with six people in the position since 2009. One of those directors sued the city, while a second quit after being cleared in an investigation started under Mayor Rich Dziekan.
DiMartino’s first budget in April 2024 included a 12 percent tax increase that was approved by a 7-0 vote of the Derby tax board (with two abstentions).
The steep tax increase is mentioned as a positive in the S&P Global Ratings report.
“The city’s current mayor and finance director, who took office in December 2023, implemented midyear spending freezes that contributed to the fiscal 2024 surplus and a 12 percent tax increase in fiscal 2025 that better aligned recurring revenues and expenditures,” the report stated.
Reaction . . .
DiMartino and Hall appeared on The Valley Indy’s 2026 Great Give Marathon Livestream. During their appearance, the pair was asked about the new S&P Global Ratings report.
“If you remember when Mayor DiMartino took over, we were a little over $2 million in fund balance and trending down toward zero,” Hall said. “We stepped in, made a lot of changes, fixed a lot of the budgeting problems and now we’re up to over $7 million in fund balance which is tremendous and obviously S&P felt the same way.”
A good report from S&P Global Ratings helps cities get better deals when borrowing money. The city issued $7 million in bonds last week and got an interest rate of 3.47 percent.
“We expect Derby to maintain roughly balanced operations,” the report stated.