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BRADLEY – It might not bring oohs and ahhs – like a giant indoor water park or a 12-diamond baseball complex – but the latest Bradley development is significant nonetheless.
It was so much so that Mayor Mike Watson, not known to distribute nor read prepared statements during the course of a Bradley Village Board meeting did just that.
Watson was all smiles as he explained the financial credit rating company, S&P Global, formerly known as Standard & Poor’s, assigned a credit rating score to Bradley of AA.
Bradley officials said this AA rating is believed to be the highest municipal bond rating in Kankakee County’s history for any municipal government.
An AA bond rating is defined as possessing a “very strong capacity to meeting financial commitments.”
Prior to this upgrade the village held a AA- rating. While ratings go as far as AAA+, this is indeed a lofty rating for Bradley.
The village noted Bourbonnais has an A bond rating and Kankakee has a BBB+ level.
While the language regarding bond ratings can be somewhat confusing, it largely means the higher the bond grade, the lower the interest rate the municipality would be assessed when borrowing money.
Much like when a prospective home buyer seeks to take on a mortgage to buy a house, the better the credit score, the lower the interest rate charged by a lender.
The village, chiefly through a business tax district, sales taxes and hotel taxes, has a budget surplus of $18 million. The village has been able to grow its surplus even though for the past three years it has rebated to property owners nearly all of the $2 million annually collected through its property tax rate.
The village is only weeks away from opening a $45 million youth baseball and softball complex along St. George Road in north Bradley, immediately east of the Bradley Commons Shopping Center.
At the same time, Bradley has already started the purchasing of water slides and various water park attractions, as well as the glass dome covering for the 2-acre complex at its recently-purchased Northfield Square mall property.
The planned year-round indoor water park is anticipated to cost around $80 million to construct. The village just sold general obligation bonds totaling nearly $30 million to begin the project.
The park is slated to open by mid- to late- 2027.
“Having $18 million in reserves speaks volumes to the leadership we have and the board,” Watson said after the meeting. “We have a lot to do here, but we can’t get to everything at once. This is exciting news all the way around.”
S&P Global said Bradley continues to experience economic growth, generating strong year-over-year increases in sales taxes.
The agency said Bradley’s per capita retail sales are 234% higher relative to the nation, “reflecting of its status as a regional shopping hub.”
S&P also noted the village has a strong future with its new baseball-softball complex projecting to attract thousands of attendees from April through October.
“... Thereby we expect it to have material effect on the local economy, increasing tourism and subsequent sales tax receipts,” according to the report. “... We anticipate the economy will continue to strengthen as new developments occur, including the new water park funded with this issuance as a tourist draw and complement to the recreational complex that is already having a positive impact on the village’s revenues.”