Summary: Fitchburg, Massachusetts; General Obligation; Non-School State Programs

S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'AA' long-term rating and 'A+' underlying rating to Fitchburg, Mass.' series 2021 state qualified municipal-purpose general obligation (GO) bonds and affirmed its 'A+' underlying rating on the city's GO debt outstanding. The outlook is stable. The long-term rating reflects our assessment of the security provided by the Massachusetts Qualified Bond Act. Under the Qualified Bond Act (Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 44A), approval by the Municipal Finance Oversight Board, which oversees and monitors the program, is required. Once a participant is approved, the state treasurer pays debt service directly to the paying agent from money withheld from the borrower's annual state aid appropriation. If necessary, the state treasurer advances debt service from legally available funds and

...Fitchburg's growing economic base and active management team have led to consistent financial results and a stable reserve profile. Rising retirement costs could increasingly pressure the budget, but costs have generally remained stable and while elevated, management is incorporating them into the budget. We expect the city's economic base will continue to grow, supported by access to a broad and diverse metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which will help support growing expenditures, particularly as the city invests in infrastructure. We do not expect to revise the rating or outlook at this time. The underlying rating further reflects our view of the following factors for the city: + Adequate economy, with projected per capita effective buying income (EBI) at 78.4% and market value per capita of $73,904, that benefits from access to a broad and diverse MSA; + Adequate management, with standard financial policies and practices under our Financial Management Assessment (FMA) methodology;...

Summary