Westboro...is good! without needing to do a Proposition 2 ½ override,” he said in the release.

WESTBOROUGH – Officials Monday announced that the town’s bond rating has been upgraded to the highest level possible, an achievement they said will save taxpayers at least $1 million in interest on upcoming projects.“Excellent news for the taxpayers,” Town Manager James Malloy said in a press release announcing the news. “(This) will result in lower interest rates paid on debt the town issues and is the direct result of the coordination and cooperation between the town’s management team, Board of Selectmen and Advisory Finance Committee.”Malloy said the town’s financial rater, Standard & Poor’s, upgraded the town from a AA+ to AAA on May 30. That comes after the town in 2011 was upgraded from AA to AA+.Just 20 other towns are rated AAA by Standard & Poor’s statewide, Malloy said, and the increased rating should save the town .6 percent in interest rates over a 20-year bond.“As Westborough is currently in the process of renovating the Town Hall and building a new Fire Station and will be issuing debt in the near future, the savings estimated in the two bond rating upgrades on an $18 million estimated debt issuance is approximately $1.13 million over the 20-year debt period,” Malloy wrote.Malloy said Standard & Poor’s cited a strong local economy, strong budgetary flexibility (14.9 percent reserves), strong management/fiscal policies and improved commitment to funding its Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) liability as reason for the upgrade.“We thank the voters at last March’s Town Meeting for approving the funding of the budget article which included the OPEB funding that helped reach this milestone,” Selectmen Chairman George Barrette said in the release.Malloy also thanked town residents and officials for implementing new policies he said have led to the increases in the rating.“It’s great to see positive results of actions the town has taken over the past few years in establishing formal fiscal and debt management policies, building the town’s reserves and eliminating the practice of using reserves to fund the operating budget,” he said.Advisory Committee Chairman Gary Wells agreed.“The town as a whole has been working diligently over the past several years to maintain costs, improve efficiencies, manage our debt and budgets all while undertaking major improvements to our fire station and town hall without needing to do a Proposition 2 ½ override,” he said in the release. “It is this type of fiscal responsibility that has contributed to this rating upgrade.”