Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Gov. Deval Patrick today signed a final fiscal 2011 supplemental budget bill to close out finances for the year that ended last June 30 with a $460 million surplus due mainly to higher-than-expected state tax collections.
The $480 million budget deposits $350 million of the year-end surplus in the state’s “rainy day” fund, bringing the balance to about $1.1 billion, and uses a portion of the balance to cover deficiencies and to supplement a number of ongoing and one-time state budget accounts.
The final close-out of fiscal 2011 also triggered a one-time municipal aid payment to cities and towns of $65 million to restore all of the Unrestricted General Government Aid that was cut from the main fiscal 2012 state budget act, which was approved in June. The Division of Local Services is distributing notice of the amounts for individual municipalities and rules governing the use of the new funds.
The final fiscal 2011 budget law, which the Legislature enacted on Oct. 17, includes $10 million to fund the state’s share of disaster-related aid to cities and towns affected by the June 1 tornadoes that struck in the central and western parts of the state.
The budget also includes $2.8 million in payments to municipalities in eastern Massachusetts to help with costs attributable to severe flooding in March 2010 and $6.2 million in delayed second installment payments to local governments in nine counties to help cover the cost of a severe ice storm in December 2008.
While the new fiscal 2011 budget law includes $10 million to cover a portion of state costs attributable to Tropical Storm Irene, which struck Massachusetts in August, any state assistance for local governments is expected to be included in a fiscal 2012 supplemental budget later in the year.
During debate in the House, the MMA supported an amendment that would have changed state law to prohibit insurance companies from paying patients – rather than ambulance service providers – for certain medical emergency calls. The amendment would have clarified that cities and towns have the authority to set ambulance fees and receive payment directly from insurance companies. While the amendment was not adopted, the MMA and other groups plan to continue advocating for this law change.
As the Legislature was giving final approval to the bill to close out fiscal 2011, the governor filed a $161 million supplemental spending bill for fiscal 2012 that would add funds for a number of state programs, including $39 million for emergency shelter and short-term housing programs and $35 million for adult day services for elderly and disabled people enrolled in MassHealth.
Gov. Patrick also announced that the tax collection forecast for fiscal 2012 was being increased by $395 million, to $21 billion.
The governor’s fiscal 2012 budget bill repeats his request for a change to state law to allow “evergreen” provisions in local collective bargaining contracts. (See related story.)
Regarding the $65 million in additional local aid, the Division of Local Services is advising communities that this revenue may be used in any one of the following ways:
• Applied as estimated receipts when setting the fiscal 2012 tax rate
• Appropriated as an available fund during fiscal 2012
• Any funds not appropriated must be closed to fund balance (free cash) at the end of fiscal 2012.
• Download DLS spreadsheet with distribution of $65 million, by community (92K Excel)