I am currently the only intern at my town’s mayor’s office. This means that the mayor gives me work that benefits her or a committee in town. I say that because my topic for this post is about one thing that the mayor had me work on. Every year Moody’s Investors Service creates a report that gives a grade for a town’s short term and long term financial status. These reports provide in depth reasoning based on the bonds and notes of the town. Basically, the report looks at sales, pension, and any other transactions in the town as well as the real estate and employment records. This report is extremely important because Moody’s is a very prestigious institution and a positive report can help gain funding for the community. My town’s report came in recently, and I was tasked with reading, dissecting, and creating a visual presentation based on the report. It was extremely interesting to read the reasoning behind the grades and Moody’s opinion on certain business decisions the town made. Without giving away too much, my town got a pretty good grade, but it was not perfect. The main negatives were centered around outstanding liabilities and debt. The town’s pension was a reason for this, with contractual retirement liabilities making up a chunk of the debt. The town did try to combat these liabilities by selling property, and the report recognized their efforts, but still labeled the debt burden as slightly elevated. Though I just pointed out the negatives, there were far more negatives. The report shined a light on the wealthy and growing tax base of the town, and said that the town was in a healthy financial position. All in all, I think learning about the report, being able to read it, and creating a presentation really helped me understand how local government and town finances work.