Emanuel asks credit ratings agency to back off ahead of latest round of borrowing
As City Hall prepares to borrow $1.2 billion, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked a Wall Street debt ratings agency that's been highly critical of Chicago's finances to withdraw its evaluation of city creditworthiness, the administration disclosed Tuesday.
The mayor contends that the junk status placed on the city's debt by Moody's Investors Service drives up borrowing costs covered by taxpayers and does not reflect the steps he has taken to fix the city's finances.
"It has become increasingly clear that Moody's rating methodology and agenda are far from objective and independent," Emanuel wrote to Raymond McDaniel Jr., president and CEO of Moody's. The mayor asked Moody's to "withdraw all of its ratings on city of Chicago debt."
Asked if the company would do what Emanuel wants, Moody's spokesman David Jacobson did not directly answer, saying only that the company has a process for considering such requests.
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