MARBLEHEAD — The town has once again received a AAA rating on the Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings system in 2021, the town administrator said Friday.
“The fiscal discipline, strong economic conditions and strong management practices have again caused S&P to affirm the AAA rating,” Town Administrator Jason Silva said.
According to the S&P report, the high rating is due to the “town’s very strong economy,” “strong management and budgetary performance,” “very strong budgetary flexibility and liquidity,” “adequate debt and contingent liability profile” and “strong institutional framework score.”
Marblehead’s market value grew by 3.4 percent over the past year to $6.9 billion, according to the report. It also outperformed its budget for fiscal year 2020, which the report attributed to higher-than-expected charges for services, vehicle excise taxes and intergovernmental revenue. The town also received about $1.8 million in federal CARES Act funding.
The town is expected to end the current fiscal year with a net budget surplus of about $3 million.
