Summary: Groton Town, Massachusetts; General Obligation

S&P Global ratings assigned its 'AAA' long-term rating to Groton Town, Mass. series 2018 general obligation (GO) municipal-purpose loan bonds. At the same time, we affirmed our 'AAA' rating on the town's outstanding GO debt. The outlook is stable. The town's full-faith-and-credit pledge, subject to limitations of Proposition 2-1/2, secures the series 2018 GO bonds. However, we note that the town voted to exempt a portion of the series 2018 bonds from Proposition 2-1/2 levy limitations. Despite limitations imposed by the commonwealth levy limit law on a portion of the bonds, we did not make a rating distinction between the limited-tax GO pledge and Groton's general creditworthiness because the tax limitation imposed on the town's ability to raise revenue and

...S&P Global ratings assigned its '###' long-term rating to Groton Town, Mass. series 2018 general obligation (GO) municipal-purpose loan bonds. At the same time, we affirmed our '###' rating on the town's outstanding GO debt. The outlook is stable. The town's full-faith-and-credit pledge, subject to limitations of Proposition 2-1/2, secures the series 2018 GO bonds. However, we note that the town voted to exempt a portion of the series 2018 bonds from Proposition 2-1/2 levy limitations. Despite limitations imposed by the commonwealth levy limit law on a portion of the bonds, we did not make a rating distinction between the limited-tax GO pledge and Groton's general creditworthiness because the tax limitation imposed on the town's ability to raise revenue and the fungibility of those resources is already embedded in our analysis of its financial and economic conditions. Groton's GO debt is eligible to be rated above the sovereign because we believe the town can maintain better credit characteristics...

Summary