The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Winsted’s bond rating upgraded to AA
WINSTED — Winsted has upgraded its bond rating to an AA, an increase from its previous rating of A1 from Moody’s Investor Service, Town Manager Josh Kelly said on March 16.
The upgrade will help the town with its planned borrowing for the Hinsdale School renovation project and its plan to improve the town’s infrastructure, including roads and sidewalks. Much of that is underway.
According to the files publicly available on the Moody’s Investors Service website, the Town of Winchester has never been rated as highly, with its last highest rating having been an “AA-/Aa3” between 2004 and 2010, Kelly said.
“Moody’s had downgraded and subsequently withdrawn their rating of Winchester’s bonds following the discovery of embezzlement by former Director of Finance Henry Centrella,” Kelly said in a statement. “The town did not have a rating restored until 2019 when it was issued the “A+/A1” rating by Moody’s. 2023 will be the first year the town has issued bonds since the mid-2000s, and this jump from an A1 rating with Moody’s to a “AA” rating with S&P reflects the significant improvements that the town has made internally at Town Hall and externally in the community.”
The total sum bonded to Winsted last week was $11.5 million: $4.1 million for the Hinsdale School renovations, $1.4 million to replace a fire engine, $600,000 for sidewalk improvements, $250,000 for drainage improvements around Highland Lake, and $5.15 million for road and bridge improvements.
The 2022 Infrastructure Improvement Plan, which includes everything but Hinsdale, was approved at a referendum in May 2022 that allocated $24.7 million to the town’s infrastructure between 2023 and 2027.
The Hinsdale project was estimated to cost the town around $10 million; thanks to Superintendent of Schools Melony BradyShanley, and the other members of the Hinsdale building committee, that cost has been reduced to just $4.1 million, a 59 percent savings, Kelly said.
Kelly said Winsted has worked hard during the last 10 years to improve its financial standing.
“We have stable and pragmatic leadership from the Board of Selectmen, new internal controls and checks and balances within the town government, new businesses opening on Main Street and around town that are growing job opportunities
to local residents, more people moving to town, and an overall sense of excitement for the town’s future,” he said. “We are taking the time to invest both money and time in the future success and growth for the town, and this big increase in our bond rating is a wonderful reflection of that progress.”
“The bond rating increase is a direct result of
the steadfast leadership of Town Manager Kelly and (former town manager Robert) Geiger before him as well as the dedication and hard work of the members of the Town’s Finance Department,” said Mayor Todd Arcelaschi. “The Town’s Finance Department was led for six years, until the end of 2021, by Bruce Stratford, and since then, Director of Finance
Ann Marie Rheault has taken the reins and has been the one to implement the 2022 Infrastructure Improvement Plan financially, which has led to this bond issuance and bond rating increase.”
Rheault said Winsted has made “amazing strides in its financial recovery.”
“(Winsted) is now on solid footing to make much-needed and longawaited infrastructure improvements,” she said. “This increase in the bond rating reflects S&P’s confirmation of the town’s financial stability and their optimistic outlook for the town’s continued progress forward.”
Bond ratings are important, Kelly said because they indicate the interest rate the town will pay when it borrows money. He said the higher the bond rating, the lower the interest rate will typically be.
“Winchester’s bond rating increasing so dramatically will ultimately result in lower interest rates on the bonds they issue next week, and in turn a lower tax burden for residents in the future,” he said.