Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has raised its rating on the town of Falmouth, Maine's general obligation bonds to AAA from AA-plus based on its recently released local GO criteria.
The outlook is stable.
At the same time, Standard & Poor's has assigned its AAA'\long-term rating and stable outlook to the town's series 2013 GO bonds.
The town's full faith and credit pledge secures the bonds. Bond proceeds will fund various capital improvements.
"The rating reflects our assessment of town's economy as very strong economy, benefiting from participation in the broad and diverse economy of Portland," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Apple Lo.
The rating also reflects the town's: very strong budgetary flexibility, with available reserves at or above 15% of general fund expenditures for the most recent three audited years; strong budgetary performance, with consistent operating surpluses in the general fund and planned drawdowns in the total governmental funds; very strong liquidity, providing very strong cash levels to cover both debt service and expenditures; strong management conditions, with formal policy and consistent ability maintain balanced budgets; and very strong debt and contingent liabilities position, driven mostly by the town's low net direct debt.
The stable outlook reflects Falmouth's continued consistent financial performance and underlying economy supported by strong management. The agency does not expect to change the rating in its two-year outlook horizon due to its expectation that the town will maintain very strong budget flexibility and strong financial performance. It also expects the underlying economy to remain very strong.
