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Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
A six-member conference committee assigned to reconcile the House’s and Senate’s state budget bills has reached agreement on a $63.4 billion fiscal 2027 spending plan.
The committee’s bill, released this evening, would increase key municipal accounts, including a $40 million boost for Unrestricted General Government Aid and minimum new education aid of $160 per pupil.
In addition to increased investments in municipalities and school districts, the compromise bill would direct a commission to study Chapter 70 education aid.
“Municpalities and school districts across the Commonwealth appreciate the conference committee’s work to respond to the significant fiscal challenges that communities are facing,” said MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine. “The MMA looks forward to supporting this funding as it heads to the governor’s desk, and will continue working with our partners to prioritize critical resources for our communities.”
The fiscal 2027 budget is intended to be paired with proposed funding from a fiscal 2026 supplemental budget that Gov. Maura Healey signed on June 12.
The Division of Local Services will soon be updating Cherry Sheet estimates for each city, town and school district based on the conference committee report.
Local accounts
The following are key components of the fiscal 2027 conference committee budget bill:
• UGGA: The committee bill would raise total UGGA funding to $1.363 billion for fiscal 2027, a $40 million increase over fiscal 2026. Three-quarters of the increase ($30 million) would be distributed to municipalities based on their proportional share of the statewide population, with no municipality receiving more than 4% of the $30 million.
• Chapter 70: With $7.66 billion for K-12 public education aid, the compromise bill would continue implementation of the 2019 Student Opportunity Act to fulfill the sixth and final year of the funding schedule. Both the House and the Senate proposed to boost per-pupil support for minimum aid districts from the statutorily obligated $30 per student to $160 per student — $10 more per student than was provided for the current year. Over 84% of school districts would be classified as minimum aid districts in fiscal 2027.
• Special Education Circuit Breaker: The compromise bill proposes $654.6 million for the Special Education Circuit Breaker program. This amount would be paired with an additional $152 million in aid included in a fiscal 2026 “Fair Share” supplemental budget law. The total is expected to satisfy expected claims for this account.
• Charter schools: The conference committee budget would fund the charter school reimbursement account at $200.4 million, intended to meet the state’s statutory obligation to mitigate Chapter 70 losses to charter schools.
• Rural school aid: For eligible town and regional school districts, the conference committee bill would fund rural school aid at $16 million — $4 million more than fiscal 2026. The proposal would maintain current eligibility requirements. An additional $4 million in funding for rural school aid for fiscal 2027 is included in the fiscal 2026 Fair Share supplemental budget bill, bringing total investment to $20 million.
• Regional school and out-of-district vocational transportation: The compromise budget bill includes two accounts intended to support school transportation needs, primarily through regional school transportation reimbursements — $57.1 million is proposed for regional school transportation alone, while $58.4 million is proposed to support both regional school reimbursements, as well as out-of-district vocational school transportation (historically funded separately). In addition, $3 million was included in the fiscal 2026 surplus surtax supplemental budget for a regional school transportation reserve account that includes reimbursements for out-of-district vocational school transportation.
• McKinney-Vento: Reimbursements for the transportation of homeless students under the McKinney-Vento federal mandate would be funded at $35.2 million, representing 58.2% of anticipated claims for fiscal 2027.
• PILOT: Payments in lieu of taxes would be funded at $55.4 million, an increase of 1.6% over fiscal 2026, which is intended to hold communities harmless from updated valuation changes.
• Universal school meals: The budget bill includes $180 million to continue the universal school meals program, allowing all Massachusetts students to eat for free at school, regardless of household income.
Outside sections
The compromise bill includes several outside sections of interest to municipalities including the following:
• Foundation Budget Review Commission: The conference committee bill recommends reconvening a Foundation Budget Review Commission to examine the current K-12 public education funding formula. The commission would assess models for efficient and effective resource allocation. A first report would be due no later than Oct. 31, 2028.
• Local permitting: Several of the bill’s provisions aim to support housing production through adjustments to local permitting processes. These provisions aim to simplify rules for homeowners, municipalities, and developers regarding “non-conforming” properties built under older codes; timelines for projects to proceed under existing zoning rules; and modifying the variance standard.
• Local-option COLA for long-term retirees: The committee’s bill recommends allowing an optional cost-of-living adjustment for long-term retirees in local and regional retirement boards. This section would require local acceptance.
• Special education transportation costs reporting: The bill would require school districts to include detailed cost components in solicitation documents and annual reporting on special education out-of-district transportation costs. Vendors would be required to provide detailed cost components during the procurement process.
• Special education transportation contract database: The budget bill would require the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to create and maintain a database of procurement and contract documents for all special education out-of-district transportation.
• Special education transportation marketplace study: The bill would require DESE, along with the Operational Services Division, Department of Public Utilities, and Registry of Motor Vehicles, to study special education school transportation to identify areas to improve the vendor marketplace.
Next steps
Both the House and Senate plan to vote on the conference committee proposal at their next formal sessions, scheduled for July 1.
The budget bill would then move on to the governor for her review. The governor will have 10 days to approve, veto, or propose amendments to the Legislature’s budget plan.
Yesterday, the Legislature enacted a $7.7 billion interim budget to allow for state-supported operations to continue uninterrupted while the governor reviews its budget proposal.