Local Aid - Section 3

Local Aid Distribution

Additional local aid information based on the Governor's FY 2014 Budget for individual cities and towns is available at http://www.mass.gov/dor/local-officials/municipal-data-and-financial-management/cherry-sheets/

This information is available for export to Excel

SECTION 3.    Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014 the distribution to cities and towns of the balance of the State Lottery Fund, as paid from the General Fund in accordance with clause (c) of the second paragraph of section 35 of chapter 10 of the General Laws, and additional funds from the General Fund shall be $898,980,293 and shall be apportioned to the cities and towns in accordance with this section. In addition, $31,010,197 shall be apportioned to cities and towns as annual formula local aid in accordance with this section and under section 18B½ of chapter 58 of the General Laws.


Notwithstanding section 2 of chapter 70 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, except for section 12B of chapter 76 and section 89 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, for fiscal year 2014 the total amounts to be distributed and paid to each city and town from item 7061-0008 of section 2 shall be as set forth in the following lists. The specified amounts to be distributed from said item 7061-0008 of said section 2 shall be in full satisfaction of the amounts due under chapter 70 of the General Laws.

For fiscal year 2014, the foundation budget categories for each district shall be calculated in the same manner as in fiscal year 2013; provided, that "pre-school enrollment" shall be defined as "the number of students enrolled in pre-school programs in a district"; and provided, further, that "foundation special education tuition" shall be defined as "the amount allotted within a district's foundation budget for special education tuition in any fiscal year. The value shall be the product of thirty five thousand eight hundred and forty eight dollars and the assumed tuition-out special education enrollment." The target local share shall be calculated using the same methodology used in fiscal year 2013. Preliminary local contribution shall be the municipality's fiscal year 2013 minimum required local contribution, increased or decreased by the municipal revenue growth factor; provided, that if a municipality's preliminary contribution as a percentage of its foundation budget is more than 2.5 percentage points lower than the target local share, the preliminary contribution shall be recalculated using the municipality's revenue growth factor plus 2 percentage point; and if a municipality's preliminary contribution as a percentage of its foundation budget is more than 7.5 percentage points lower than the target local share, the preliminary contribution shall be recalculated using the municipality's revenue growth factor plus 3 percentage points. Minimum required local contribution for fiscal year 2014 shall be, for any municipality with a fiscal year 2014 preliminary contribution greater than its fiscal year 2013 target contribution, the preliminary local contribution reduced by 100 per cent of the gap between the preliminary local contribution and the target local contribution; provided further, that no minimum required local contribution shall be greater than the district's foundation budget amount. Required local contribution shall be allocated among the districts to which a municipality belongs in direct proportion to the foundation budgets for the municipality's pupils at each of those districts. For fiscal year 2014, the "foundation aid increment" shall be the difference between: (a) the positive difference between a district's foundation budget and its required district contribution; and (b) prior year aid. Chapter 70 aid for fiscal year 2014 shall be the sum of prior year aid plus the foundation aid increment, if any, plus a minimum aid increment sufficient to ensure that no operating district receives an increase over fiscal year 2013 of less than twenty five dollars per student. No non-operating district shall receive chapter 70 aid in an amount greater than the district's foundation budget.


If there is a conflict between the language of this section and the distribution listed below, the distribution below shall control.

The department of elementary and secondary education shall not consider health care costs for retired teachers to be part of net school spending for any district in which such costs were not considered part of net school spending in fiscal year 1994.

No payments to cities, towns or counties maintaining an agricultural school pursuant to this section shall be made after November 30 of the fiscal year until the commissioner of revenue certifies acceptance of the prior fiscal year's annual financial reports submitted pursuant to section 43 of chapter 44 of the General Laws. Advance payments shall be made for some or all of periodic local reimbursement or assistance programs to any city, town, regional school district or independent agricultural and technical school that demonstrates an emergency cash shortfall, as certified by the commissioner of revenue and approved by the secretary of the executive office for administration and finance, pursuant to guidelines established by the secretary.