Summary: Needham, Massachusetts; General Obligation

S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'AAA' long-term rating to Needham, Mass.' series 2018 general obligation (GO) municipal purpose loan bonds. The outlook is stable. The town's full-faith-and-credit pledge, subject to limitations of Proposition 2-1/2, secures the bonds. We rate the limited-tax GO debt on par with our view of the town's general creditworthiness, given that we factor Needham's revenue-raising flexibility and ability to pay debt service into our view of the town's general creditworthiness rating. Officials intend to use series 2018 bond proceeds to permanently finance maturing bond anticipation notes (BANs) issued for various capital purposes. Needham's GO bonds are eligible to be rated above the sovereign because we believe the town can maintain better credit characteristics than the nation

...S&P Global Ratings assigned its '###' long-term rating to Needham, Mass.' series 2018 general obligation (GO) municipal purpose loan bonds. The outlook is stable. The town's full-faith-and-credit pledge, subject to limitations of Proposition 2-1/2, secures the bonds. We rate the limited-tax GO debt on par with our view of the town's general creditworthiness, given that we factor Needham's revenue-raising flexibility and ability to pay debt service into our view of the town's general creditworthiness rating. Officials intend to use series 2018 bond proceeds to permanently finance maturing bond anticipation notes (BANs) issued for various capital purposes. Needham's GO bonds are eligible to be rated above the sovereign because we believe the town can maintain better credit characteristics than the nation in a stress scenario. Under our criteria, titled "Ratings Above The Sovereign: Corporate And Government Ratings--Methodology And Assumptions" (published Nov. 19, 2013, on RatingsDirect),...

Summary