REVERE — A combination of a strong economy, budget surpluses, and a pipeline of more than 2,500 waterfront apartments has boosted the city’s bond rating to a record high.
Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings, the New York financial services publisher of independent analytics, has upgraded Revere to AA with a stable outlook, up from AA- rating.
“Revere is doing very well and it’s benefiting from the expansion of Boston’s Seaport District where housing has become so expensive,” said Steven Waldeck, an S&P ratings analyst and co-author of the report. “The construction of thousands of apartments on Revere’s waterfront is attracting high-income residents and we expect that trend to continue as long as Boston continues to boom.”
Like a person’s individual credit score, a city’s bond rating describes its credit worthiness to potential borrowers and investors.
The seven-page report said Revere’s budgetary performance is strong. The city had operating surpluses of 3.7 percent in the general fund and 4.9 percent extra across all governmental funds in 2017.
While Revere has appropriated surplus revenue toward its budget, it has successfully reduced reliance on reserves to balance the budget for the past three years, the report found.
“We believe Revere’s budgetary flexibility will likely remain very strong with management’s continuous efforts to reduce
overspending and tighten expenditure control,” S&P wrote.
Mayor Brian Arrigo said the city has achieved its highest bond rating since ratings companies began providing them in 1978.
“This signifies the financial strength of our community,” said Arrigo in a statement. “The rating is a testament of all the hard work and diligent effort by all of us in city government whose objective is to improve the quality of life for all of our residents.”
