Standard & Poor's raised its rating for Westborough, Mass. general obligation debt to AAA from AA-plus, with a stable outlook.
S&P also assigned its SP-1-plus short-term rating to the city's series 2014 bond anticipation notes. The 18,000-population town sits between Boston and Worcester.
"In our view, Westborough maintains a very strong capacity to pay principal and interest when the notes come due," S&P said in a May 30 statement. 'The town maintains what we view as a low market-risk profile because it has strong legal authority to issue long-term debt to take out the notes and is a frequent issuer that regularly provides ongoing disclosure to market participants."
Town Manager James Malloy, in a statement, called the upgrade "excellent news for the taxpayers." Malloy told the Metro West Daily News that the enhanced rating should save the town $1.13 million on an $18 million bond over 20 years.
