HARWICH – The Town of Harwich and the Monomoy Regional School District are looking forward to substantial savings on borrowing thanks to an upgraded credit rating by S&P Global.
The bond rating firm upgraded the town’s credit rating to AAA, which is expected to ease the burden on an upcoming, multi-million-dollar sewer project.
The town’s bond rating is based on the lower rating between Chatham and Harwich, which will also yield positive financial results in the school district. Chatham had already been rated AAA, and with Harwich rising from a AA-plus rating to AAA, both communities will see a reduction in borrowing costs for the school district.
Harwich Town Administrator Christopher Clark says he’s “thrilled” about the accomplishment, stating that it had been a challenge to reach the AAA rating.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity. I’m so thankful that the Standard & Poor’s people have come around to our viewpoint,” Clark said.
“I think I’ve worked hard on the budget message. I put a lot of time and energy into it each year, I think I’m already up to almost 50 pages to really kind of trumpet the value of the town and the town’s adherence to Standard and Poor’s.”
The report from S&P Global states that “the fiscal 2020 budget totals $72.3 million (including school expenses), representing an increase of about 7.7-percent over the prior year. It is balanced, and the town strives to maintain the current level of services and support technology, staffing needs and wage increases to remain competitive with other Cape Cod communities. Based on a property tax levy increase of 8.2-percent (consisting of tax base growth and levy increase), we believe the town’s budgetary performance will remain strong with operating revenue fully covering higher expenditures.”
“The town has a lot of strong attributes and we just needed to convince Standard & Poor’s that our finances were caught up to the strong demographics of the community. So, I think it’s been nice that we’ve been able to accomplish that,” said Clark.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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