Seekonk Earns Double A Bond Rating

Town Administrator Shawn Cadime provided a review of the 2023 fiscal year budget to the Select Board on July 12.

The year-end closed with no major issues and significant turn backs. Salaries and expenditures closed $2.6 million below budget forecast. Revenues closed roughly $1 million ahead of budget projections.

Cadime discussed the FY’24 preliminary tax bills. $23.3 million is committed for real estate, with $1.8 million for personal property.

An update from the Treasurer’s office revealed a Bond Rating Review Call with Standard and Poor’s. Seekonk has a confirmed AA+ rating with a stable outlook.  

Cadime said a triple A rating is the highest, with a double A second.

“There are factors that are outside our control in terms of getting that triple A,” Cadime explained. “We’ve done everything we possibly can internally. The biggest component is the financial policies we have put in place.”

Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs) sold at 4.47 percent to Newburyport Five Cents Savings. Those are $425,000 for the South End Fire Station and $750,000 for the Department of Public Works (DPW) Project.

The long-term bonds were sold for 2.91 percent. Those include the Phase 2 project for the Senior Center and the turf field at Seekonk High School.