The Curious Timing Of Fargo's Economic Outlook Downgrade

This weeks' announcement that Moody's is downgrading Fargo economic outlook is likely a long time in the making, but one has to wonder "why now?"

This week, news broke that Moody’s, the credit rating agency that all of North Dakota’s state and local governments rely on for credit ratings and fiscal forcasting is downgrading the City of Fargo’s economic outlook.

A renowned institution has downgraded Fargo’s financial outlook from stable to negative, a move one city commissioner called "disastrous."

The city’s finance committee — composed of Fargo's four city commissioners and the mayor — reviewed Monday, Sept. 23, the opinion issued Sept. 13 by Moody’s Ratings . Moody’s is a financial services company that provides credit ratings for governments, companies and other entities.

Moody’s affirmed the city’s Aa2 rating, the third-highest long-term credit rating an entity can receive. It means the city’s finances are considered high quality and subject to “very low credit risk.”

Fargo's rating hasn't changed since 2020, when Moody’s downgraded the city from Aa1 to Aa2. The highest credit rating is Aaa, which means an entity has the highe…