State budget season is here, and the MMA is advocating for you

From the Beacon, April 2026

Spring is officially upon us (I hope), which means that state budget writing in the Legislature is well underway — as it is in your cities and towns.

Here at the MMA, we always deeply engage in budget advocacy, but it feels different this year, as we are acutely aware of the challenges you are all facing — and we’re well equipped with data and research stemming from last year’s “Perfect Storm” analysis.

Last week, I had the opportunity to testify at the Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing, alongside Amesbury Mayor and MMA President Kassandra Gove and Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett. Collectively, we made a strong case for the needs of cities and towns in fiscal 2027.

In both our verbal and written testimony, we began with our ask for a reinvestment in Unrestricted General Government Aid. With allocations that can be flexibly deployed to respond to each community’s unique needs on the ground, UGGA, if strategically boosted, is positioned to mitigate many of the fiscal pressures felt by cities and towns while reducing overreliance on the property tax.

We reminded the committee that few events have reshaped local finances in Massachusetts as profoundly as the 2008 global financial crisis. Deep cuts were made to many programs, including UGGA, to address state revenue shortfalls. In the years that followed, the Commonwealth eventually regained its fiscal footing, but funding for UGGA was never corrected. The gap created from 2008 to 2011 became a long-term structural hole in the limited municipal revenue base. Even without adjusting for inflation, UGGA funding just passed its 2008 level in the fiscal 2026 state budget — 18 years after the reductions.

Increasing the investment by $351 million in fiscal 2027 would restore the trajectory of the program since the Great Recession and renew the Commonwealth’s commitment to the success and stability of cities and towns.

Next, we addressed Chapter 70 education aid. We began by urging the committee to increase minimum per pupil aid in fiscal 2027, to ensure that districts across the Commonwealth are equipped to continue to provide high-quality school programming. An estimated 80% of all districts will be considered minimum aid districts in the coming year. Cities, towns, and districts are deeply appreciative of last year’s minimum aid increase to $150 per pupil. Maintaining this level of aid would provide critical support to help districts meet student needs as costs continue to climb.

We further urged the committee to address the growing issue of untenable required local contributions that are stressing local budgets by forcing cities and towns to prioritize these contributions over investments in other essential municipal services. We strongly recommend reforming the required local contribution aspect of the Student Opportunity Act, to protect critical non-school services alongside education investments.

We advocated for full funding of the Special Education Circuit Breaker, charter school impact mitigation payments, rural school aid, student transportation reimbursements, regional school transportation, out-of-district vocational transportation, McKinney-Vento, and payments in lieu of taxes.

Finally, we expressed our unequivocal opposition to the governor’s proposal to discontinue Registry of Motor Vehicle holds for delinquent payments. The governor’s proposal would change the process by which cities and towns may collect outstanding excise taxes, parking ticket payments, and abandoned vehicle fines.

Cities and towns are deeply concerned that the elimination of a helpful and practical tool that encourages payment of key municipal charges will compromise revenues, collection rates, and therefore, municipal bond ratings. During a time when municipalities across the Commonwealth are struggling to balance budgets and maintain essential services, we strongly urged the committee to maintain existing practice and oppose these sections of the governor’s budget.

As you know, the budget process is just beginning at the state level, and we will continue to advocate for you through each stage of the process. Please look for our updates and calls to action as the House budget and Senate budget are released over the course of the next two months. Working together, I am confident that we can achieve adequate funding in the fiscal 2027 state budget that provides much-needed support for your communities.