Mashpee Takes Double Jump In Bond Rating

     A bright spot appeared on Mashpee’s financial horizon yesterday afternoon, with an announcement from Standard and Poor’s of a “double jump” in the town’s bond rating, from AA minus, over AA, to AA plus.
     The news of the improvement came in a call from the town’s financial representatives to Town Manager Joyce M. Mason.
     “I am blown away. I never anticipated an increase, so I am delighted. I would have been pleased if it had just stayed the same,” Ms. Mason said.
     The bond rating is similar to an individual’s credit rating, used to set the interest rates at which the town borrows money, according to David Leery, town treasurer and collector.
     Ms. Mason said the change was due to Standard and Poor’s assessment that the town is on sturdy financial ground and because of recently adopted policies and procedures, including one setting a ratio of debt to stable finances and another regulating the treasurer’s conduct.
     Mr. Leery said, “I think it is because Mashpee is doing very well from a fiscal standpoint. It is the result of some really good solid fiscal management.”
     Mr. Leery said he has never before seen a “double jump” in his more than 20 years of working in municipal finance for three different towns. “So, yes, I would say this is very rare,” he said.
     The improvement is well timed, Ms. Mason said, with the town soon to be bonding money for the new fire substation in South Mashpee, the purchase of nearly 80 acres of open space, and several road projects.
     Ms. Mason and Mr. Leery both said it was too early to say how much the change would affect the interest rates or how much money it will end up saving the town.
     Reached at home, John J. Cahalane, chairman of the Mashpee Board of Selectmen, said, “I was just sitting here thinking about it, and Mashpee is really lucky to have a town manager and department heads who work together with all the volunteer committees to help keep the town financially responsible.”
     Mr. Cahalane said Ms. Mason, the selectmen, the Mashpee Finance Committee, the Mashpee School Committee, and others deserve credit. “The department heads are very cooperative also, even this time around no one got any of the increases that they would have liked, they were pretty much level funded, but you didn’t hear anyone crying about it. They realize that they have to help keep the town fiscally sound,” he said. “I don’t think there has been any let up in town services.”
     Given the financial climate, Mr. Cahalane said the news is particularly good. “I suspect our town manager will have a lot of other town managers calling her and asking her how she did it,” he said.