Whitman Board of Selectmen approves $59.5 million school bond sale at rates below 4 percent

WHITMAN -- March 10, 2026, Whitman Board of Selectmen unanimously approves $59.5 million in school bonds and notes at competitive rates while confronting a $500,000 budget deficit. The board approved the sale of $28,535,000 in general obligation school bonds to Raymond James and Associates at a true interest cost of 3.915 percent, and $31 million in bond anticipation notes to Jefferies LLC at 2.335 percent, with Moody's assigning an Aa3 rating to the bonds, the town's existing rating reaffirmed. Fiscal advisor Ben Oglesby of UniBank Fiscal Advisors told the board the premium on the notes would cut the taxpayer interest burden from roughly $1.2 million to about $770,305. The financing covers the Whitman Middle School project through an inter-municipal agreement allowing the town to borrow on behalf of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, which cannot obtain a bond rating due to audit delays. Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter reported health insurance costs rising 10 percent for active employees and pegged the remaining budget deficit at just under $500,000, with the board authorizing her to advertise for an assistant town administrator immediately and scheduling a budget decision for the March 24 meeting.