Independent confirmation of an improving fiscal picture came this week from two national financial rating services - Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Services.
In what a Standard & Poor's analyst called a "remarkable" turnaround, Springfield's bond rating has been upgraded to BBB, which means the city now has an adequate capacity to pay interest and repay principal on money it borrows to undertake projects - from new schools to new sewers. Two years ago, Standard & Poor's handed the city a BB rating, which is a polite term for what prospective investors refer to as junk bonds.
In another vote of confidence in its fiscal future, Moody's Investors Services said the city's financial outlook is stable for the first time since 1990.
