Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Chief Administrative and Financial Officer (CAFO) Cathy Bouno, Deputy CAFO Lindsay Hackett, Acting Comptroller Steve Lonergan, Acting Collector/Treasurer Sandy Powell, and Chief of Staff Bill Baker joined today at city hall to virtually attend the state Municipal Finance Oversight Board’s meeting held this morning.
The Municipal Finance Oversight Board (MFOB) within the State Auditor’s office considers applications from municipal governments to use the Commonwealth's bond rating to borrow money to fund capital improvement projects, land acquisition, and emergency repairs. By using the state's bond rating, municipal governments can secure lower interest rates, saving taxpayer money.
Today the City of Springfield appeared before the MFOB on its Chapter 44A request for $8,433,300 in state qualified bonds for the following:
- Two Fire Apparatus
- Body-Worn Cameras & Tasers
- Dwight Street Improvements
- Gerena School Feasibility Study
- Commerce School Roof
- Milton Bradley School Windows
- Rebecca Johnson School Windows
- Central High School Windows
- Glenwood School Roof
- Indian Orchard School Roof
- Bowles School Roof
- Sumner Avenue Roof
- Pottenger School Windows
The city’s request was unanimously approved by the 4-member board. One board member commented on the success of Springfield’s finance team in working over the years to continually improve the city’s financial position.
Mayor Sarno states, “I deeply appreciate our dedicated, and award-winning finance team led by CAFO Cathy Buono for their steadfast efforts to maintain fiscally sound management practices that allow us to continue to invest in important projects like our school building and public safety projects. Our municipal bond rating has remained strong, it’s the highest rating in our city’s history and we continue to maintain a strong and healthy reserve. Our continued fiscal responsibly has enabled my administration, in partnership with our Springfield Public Schools, Facilities Management, Department Capital Asset Management, and the Massachusetts School Building Administration (MSBA) to invest over $1 billion into building new schools and renovate existing schools – the most in the Commonwealth! We are proud to continue school-building rehabilitation and new school construction ensuring our Springfield Public Schools students and families have the best opportunities to learn, grow and succeed. Our city team has had a great working relationship with the MFOB and we deeply appreciate their decision.”
