03/25/2019 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Agenda Packet

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Summary: Mashpee Town, Massachusetts; General Obligation • Strong management,with good financial policies and practices under our Financial Management Assessment (FMA) methodology; • Strong budgetary performance,with operating surpluses in the general fund and at the total governmental-fund level in fiscal 2018; • Very strong budgetary flexibility,with available fund balance in fiscal 2018 of 24%of operating expenditures; • Very strong liquidity,with total government available cash at 25.8%of total governmental-fund expenditures and 8x governmental debt service, and access to external liquidity we consider strong; • Very strong debt-and-contingent-liability position, with debt service carrying charges at 3.2%of expenditures and net direct debt that is 26.2%of Total governmental-fund revenue, as well as low overall net debt at less than 3%of market value and rapid amortization, with 79.6%of debt scheduled to be retired within 10 years; and • Strong institutional framework score. Very strong economy We consider Mashpee's economy very strong.The town,with an estimated population of 14,535, is in Barnstable County in the Barnstable Town MSA,which we consider broad and diverse. The town has a projected per capita effective buying income of 128% of the national level and per capita market value of$370,560. Overall,market value has grown by 3.8%during the past year to $5.4 billion in fiscal 2019. County unemployment was 4.7%in 2017. Mashpee, on Cape Cod, is approximately 70 miles from Boston, bordered by Falmouth, Sandwich, and Barnstable. Like other regional coastal communities, the town is a resort destination with a population that increases during the summer. With various new developments in the works, assessed value (AV) continues to grow. For fiscal 2019,AV totals $5,38 billion, an increase of 12.5%from$4.76 billion in fiscal 2016. Officials report continued development, and they expect 200 complete additional housing units during the next few years. In addition, Mashpee,home to various small businesses, does not have any single leading employer that would make it vulnerable to one individual business' presence. Strong management We view the town's management as strong,with good financial policies and practices under our FMA methodology, indicating that financial practices exist in most areas but that governance officials might not formalize or regularly monitor all of them. We consider Mashpee's budget practices conservative with assumptions based on historical trend analysis of previous-year performances. Each department is responsible for monitoring budget-to-actual results, and they must adhere to budgeted amounts. Management can amend the budget for expenses under prespecified thresholds. Management maintains 10- and five-year financial and capital plans, respectively. Mashpee's investment policy mirrors commonwealth guidelines, and it monitors and makes monthly reports on investments and holdings to town officials. Mashpee's formal reserve policy, adopted in January 2017, calls for maintaining unrestricted reserves above 10%of the total annual operating budget. Furthermore, Mashpee has adhered to commonwealth debt-issuance laws and maintained the practice of capping debt service at 7%. WWVV 131AN,iA[3I)ANn;1�l(*)I;,,;.(:()M/FiATI[vGSDIRI-.CI N4ARCH 6, 2019 3