On Feb. 5, it was announced that Dartmouth was assigned an AAA rating and a stable outlook by the Standard & Poor's Ratings Services based on its General Obligations bonds.

The AAA score, which is up from an AA score in 2014, is the highest rating that can be achieved through Standard & Poor's. It denotes that the town has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments.

Criteria used in giving Dartmouth its new designation include strong economy, management, budgetary performance and flexibility.

The summary report from Standard & Poor's found that Dartmouth has a "very strong" economy. Town management was also viewed favorably, with "good" financial policies and practices in place.

The report states that Dartmouth has a favorable outlook for the next two years and the AAA rating will likely remain intact during that time.

"We believe the town's very strong economy and strong management, as well as our expectation that management will likely maintain its very strong budgetary flexibility, support the rating," the summary report states.

Town Administrator David Cressman said the rating reflects the work of the town’s officials and employees as well as the town’s financial team.