Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Legislature yesterday passed and sent to the governor a $63.4 billion fiscal 2027 state budget bill that 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 investments in municipalities and school districts, the bill would direct a commission to study Chapter 70 public education aid.
“As the state faces continuing economic uncertainty, we appreciate the significant municipal investments made by the Legislature’s final budget bill,” said MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine. “We look forward to continuing to work with our state partners to address the significant fiscal challenges facing municipalities all across the Commonwealth.”
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 final compromise budget bill was released by a House-Senate conference committee on June 30, with House and Senate votes held the following day.
The Division of Local Services has updated Cherry Sheet estimates for each city, town and school district based on the Legislature’s bill (see FY2027 Conference Committee column).
Local accounts
The following are key components of the Legislature’s fiscal 2027 state budget bill:
• UGGA: The 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, while the remaining $10 million of the increase would be distributed as it has been in past years.
• Chapter 70: With $7.66 billion for K-12 public education aid, the budget bill would continue implementation of the 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. Eighty-four percent of school districts would be classified as minimum aid districts in fiscal 2027.
• Special Education Circuit Breaker: The budget 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 bill 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 Legislature’s 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 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 Legislature’s bill includes several outside sections of interest to municipalities:
• Foundation Budget Review Commission: The 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. The 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 budget 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: School districts would be required 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 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would be required 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
The governor has 10 days to approve, veto, or propose amendments to the Legislature’s budget plan.
State-supported operations are continuing uninterrupted under a $7.7 billion interim budget while the governor reviews the Legislature’s budget bill.