Moody's said it will not downgrade Kentucky's credit rating despite a recent federal bankruptcy decision that could cost the state nearly $1 billion over 20 years.
The credit rating agency said Monday that Kentucky has enough resources to manage the added expenses caused by a judge's decision to let a private Louisville community mental health center leave the Kentucky Employees Retirement System without paying its share of the $17.1 billion unfunded liability.
Kentucky Retirement Systems is appealing the judge's ruling. Moody's noted it would cost the state an extra $2.4 billion over 20 years if all of the community mental health centers left the system.
But Moody's said its calculations show the departures of community mental health centers would not increase the state's overall $41.4 billion adjusted net pension liability.