MBTA Capital Budget

SECTION 45.   Section 20 of chapter 161A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the second paragraph the following paragraph:-

The itemized budget shall properly classify operating expenditures. Subject to a written policy approved by the board, the authority may classify an employee on a capital budget if the employee is supporting a capital transportation project; provided, however, that such classification shall be in accordance with federal funding requirements, government accounting standards and applicable state finance and federal laws. The policy shall: (i) define the employee positions eligible for classification on a capital budget, consistent with this section; (ii) specify that no bond funds shall be used to fund an employee's salary; and (iii) require an annual review by an independent third-party auditor of the authority's practices related to classifying employees on a capital budget. The secretary shall include the following information in the itemized budgets available on the authority's website: (i) the amount of capital expenditures used for employees; (ii) the total number of employee salaries included in capital expenditures, including a breakdown by division of the position titles and accompanying salaries; and (iii) the total number of employees assigned to capital projects.