Mass. plans sale of $525M in bonds for rail improvements

BOSTON – Massachusetts plans to sell $525 million of general-obligation bonds for a capital plan that includes an extension of Boston’s Green Line train and an overhaul of the city’s South Station rail hub, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Proceeds will go toward Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s five-year, $11 billion spending plan introduced this month. The state is rated one level below the top grade by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.
The state is gaining strength after the 18-month recession that ended in 2009, with tax receipts for the first five months of the fiscal year up 9.7 percent over the same period last year, according to the Department of Revenue.
Moody’s said its rating in part reflects the commonwealth’s “strong financial-management practices and its demonstrated willingness to balance its budget when necessary through spending cuts, revenue increases and use of reserves.”
Transportation projects account for more than one-third of the five-year plan, including $117 million for extending the Green Line into the northwest suburbs. A $20 million chunk will go toward work on Boston’s South Station rail hub. Higher education and community investments – such as expanding broadband networks – also make up one-third of the five-year program. •

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