Mayor Carlo DeMaria is pleased to announce that Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P) assigned its “SP-1+” short-term rating to the City of Everett’s $10.5 million series 2022 general obligation bond anticipation notes and “AA+” long term-rating and stable outlook to the City’s $1.9 million series 2022 general obligation energy improvement bonds. The City of Everett also affirmed the City of Everett’s “AA+” rating with a stable outlook on the City’s outstanding bonds.
“I am proud of the ratings that the City of Everett earned from S&P,” said Mayor Carlo DeMaria. “The rating assignments and affirmation show our strong financial stability during these unprecedented times. These ratings confirm our continued strong economic position.”
S&P highlighted the City’s strengths as:
• Strong financial profile trends and history of prudent budgeting that has facilitated stable operations.
• Everett’s local economy benefits from participating in the broader Boston metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
• City’s financially planning for the possible closing of the Mystic Generating Station by gradually reducing the budgeted tax revenue it depends on from the plant, as well as holding ongoing discussions at the state level regarding funding eligibility of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Fund, which is specifically dedicated to assist communities in the transition of closing power plants.
• Strong financial management with good financial policies and practices under our Financial Management Assessment (FMA) methodology and strong institutional framework score.
• Record of robust financial performance and fund balance levels over the last three years
• Strong debt-and-contingent-liability position, with rapid amortization, but a large pension and other-postemployment-benefit (OPEB)
According to S&P, “The stable outlook reflects our view of the city’s very strong reserves, conservative budgeting, and strong financial management, which we expect will provide an adequate cushion to absorb unexpected revenue decreases or economic stagnation due to an uncertain economic recovery or COVID-19-related events.”
S&P is a municipal bond credit rating agency that provides organizations a way to rate their financial situation. They had reviewed the City’s financials in October 2020 and during this updated review, S&P declared that the 2020 numbers came in better than expected. “SP-1+” is the highest short-term rating attainable and the “AA+” bond rating is consistent with the ratings of the prior years in the City of Everett. These high ratings provide a very optimistic outlook for the years to come with a strong financial future.