The basics:

• Camden keeps A bond rating with stable outlook from S&P
• City praised for fiscal discipline and improved reserves
• Supported by major developments like Cooper Health expansion
• 11th straight year maintaining investment grade rating

There’s more positive news for the City of Camden. Mayor Victor Carstarphen announced during his May 8 State of the City Address that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has upheld Camden’s investment grade A rating – which it was upgraded to in 2024 – while maintaining its “stable outlook.”

S&P notes a number of factors.

“The stable outlook reflects our view that the city will maintain its strong overall financial profile throughout the two-year outlook horizon, supported by strong state support and good recent economic momentum,” S&P wrote in its analysis. “Within the past three fiscal years, the city has scrubbed its financial processes, reducing the number of accounts used, eliminating interfund receivables, and strengthening reserves.”

This comes on the heels of a string of major developments in the city, such as:

• The $3 billion expansion of the Cooper University Health Care campus;
• A $250 million redevelopment of the Walter Rand Transportation Center;
• 50-year lows in crime and 30-year lows in its unemployment rates;
• And more.

It also marks the 11th consecutive year that the city has maintained its investment grade bond rating. The period covers a dramatic progression from sub-investment grade ratings to a 2014 increase in rating to an investment grade BBB+, all the way to its now A rating.

“It’s a direct result of focus, foresight, and fiscal discipline,” said Carstarphen. “Just over a decade ago, the city could not even muster an investment grade rating. Now, two years in a row, we are A rated.”

Teamwork makes the city work

Carstarphen noted the collaboration and communication between different levels of government as well as among key stakeholders.

“Every year, my administration submits a responsible budget on time to City Council,” he said. “We are good stewards of the city’s money – money that belongs to the people.”

Camden City Council President Angel Fuentes commented, “I commend Mayor Carstarphen and his administration for doing the hard work to maintain the A rating.”

“I applaud the work and the financial controls that Mayor Carstarphen and his administration have adopted over the last five years, and this maintained rating is an outstanding example of that,” said Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr.

Mark McDonough is president of New Jersey American Water and co-chair of Camden Community Partnership. He said the reaffirmed rating is a powerful endorsement of the city’s economic resilience, financial discipline and long-term vision.

“This milestone reflects not only the strong leadership of Mayor Carstarphen, but also the collective commitment of Camden’s business community, civic partners, and residents,” said McDonough.

Fuentes added, “It makes me proud that Camden is now looked at as a model for good fiscal management and considered a sound investment.”

“The bond rating reinforces the fact that Camden continues to move in the right direction,” said Carstarphen.