Summary: Watertown, Massachusetts; General Obligation

S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'AAA' rating and stable outlook to Watertown, Mass.' series 2018 general obligation (GO) municipal-purpose-loan bonds and affirmed its 'AAA' rating, with a stable outlook, on the town's existing GO debt. The town's full-faith-and-credit pledge, subject to Proposition 2 1/2 limitations, secures the bonds. Despite limitations imposed by the commonwealth levy-limit law, we did not make a rating distinction for the limited-tax-GO pledge due to the town's flexibility under the levy limit. Officials plan to use series 2018 bond proceeds to finance various capital improvement projects. We rate the town higher than the nation because we believe Watertown can maintain better credit characteristics than the nation in a stress scenario based on its predominantly locally derived

...S&P Global Ratings assigned its '###' rating and stable outlook to Watertown, Mass.' series 2018 general obligation (GO) municipal-purpose-loan bonds and affirmed its '###' rating, with a stable outlook, on the town's existing GO debt. The town's full-faith-and-credit pledge, subject to Proposition 2 1/2 limitations, secures the bonds. Despite limitations imposed by the commonwealth levy-limit law, we did not make a rating distinction for the limited-tax-GO pledge due to the town's flexibility under the levy limit. Officials plan to use series 2018 bond proceeds to finance various capital improvement projects. We rate the town higher than the nation because we believe Watertown can maintain better credit characteristics than the nation 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. In fiscal 2016, local property taxes generated 79% of...

Summary