WILMINGTON, MA — At last week’s Wilmington Board of Selectmen Meeting, Town Finance Director Bryan Perry announced that the town has maintained its AA+ rating from Standard & Poor’s after a review in August. AA+ is the agency’s second highest rating.
“S&P’s report notes that the town maintains ‘very strong budgetary flexibility’ with ‘strong management and good financial policies and practices’,” wrote Perry in a memo.
Standard & Poor’s top rating — AAA — remains elusive.
“S&P continues to view the town’s Pension and OPEB obligations as a credit weakness,” explained Perry. “Despite the fact that the town has annually contributed to stabilization funds since 2016 and made additional payments beyond the pension assessment, S&P still reviews these as a weakness due to the relatively low funded ratios respectively.”
The town’s strong bond rating allowed it to recently pursue an “advanced refunding” of the the remaining debt from the High School building project. The move is now expected to save the town an anticipated $3.9 million — $229,000 each year through the end of the bond in 2037.
The town originally thought the savings would total $2.6 million.
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