Summary: Franklin, Massachusetts; General Obligation

S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term rating to 'AAA' from 'AA+' on the Town of Franklin, Mass.' general obligation (GO) debt outstanding, due to the town's strong financial performance and an improved reserve position that will likely be sustained despite ongoing economic uncertainties. At the same time, we assigned our 'AAA' long-term rating to the town's $4.8 million series 2022 GO municipal-purpose loan bonds. The outlook is stable. We rate the town above the sovereign because we believe it can maintain better credit characteristics than the U.S. in a stress scenario, based on its predominantly locally derived revenue base and our view that pledged revenue supporting debt service on the bonds is at limited risk of negative sovereign intervention. The

...S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term rating to '###' from '##+' on the Town of Franklin, Mass.' general obligation (GO) debt outstanding, due to the town's strong financial performance and an improved reserve position that will likely be sustained despite ongoing economic uncertainties. At the same time, we assigned our '###' long-term rating to the town's $4.8 million series 2022 GO municipal-purpose loan bonds. The outlook is stable. We rate the town above the sovereign because we believe it can maintain better credit characteristics than the U.S. in a stress scenario, based on its predominantly locally derived revenue base and our view that pledged revenue supporting debt service on the bonds is at limited risk of negative sovereign intervention. The rating above the sovereign is based on our criteria "Ratings Above The Sovereign: Corporate And Government Ratings--Methodology And Assumptions," published Nov. 19, 2013, on RatingsDirect. Securing the bonds is Franklin's full-faith-and-credit...

Summary