Local Aid Reform
In 2005, Center and research department economists advised the Hamill Commission, a group of business and public officials considering local aid reform for Massachusetts. Since providing this service, the Center has produced research exploring local aid reform, identified policy options that could promote more equitable distribution of local aid, and briefed state and local leaders about this opportunity.
Of note, in 2013 Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick proposed reforming local aid. Proposed additional revenues available in 2014 for local aid would be apportioned according to a formula that takes localities' own revenue capacity into account, similar to that recommended by the Center's research.
In 2010 the Center released research supporting of the bank's Toward a More Prosperous Springfield initiative, which committed bank support to ongoing efforts at the state and local levels to revitalize the City of Springfield, Massachusetts:
Does Springfield Receive Its Fair Share of Municipal Aid? Implications for Aid Formula Reform in Massachusetts 
by Bo Zhao with Marques Benton, Lynn Browne, Prabal Chakrabarti, DeAnna Green, Yolanda K. Kodrzycki, Ana Patricia Muñoz, and Richard Walker - Working Paper No. 10-4
- Related research
- Presentations
- Policy engagement
"Making State Aid Cuts More Equitable"
by Bo Zhao and David Coyne
Communities & Banking magazine, Spring 2012
A More Equitable Approach to Cutting State Aid
by Bo Zhao and David Coyne
Policy Brief 11-2
Making Municipal Aid Count: Mind the Gap!
by Bo Zhao and David Coyne
Communities & Banking magazine, Spring 2011
Designing Formulas for Distributing Reductions in State Aid
by Bo Zhao and David Coyne
Working Paper 11-2
Municipal Aid Evaluation and Reform
by Bo Zhao
Working Paper 11-1
Reforming Municipal Aid in Massachusetts: The Case for a Gap-Based Formula
by Bo Zhao and David Coyne
Policy Brief 10-2
The Fiscal Impact of Potential Local Option Taxes in Massachusetts
by Bo Zhao
Working Paper 10-2
Designing State Aid Formulas: The Case of a New Formula for Distributing Municipal Aid in Massachusetts
by Bo Zhao and Katharine Bradbury
Working Paper 08-2
Measuring Non-School Fiscal Imbalances of New England Municipalities
by Katharine Bradbury and Bo Zhao
Policy Brief 07-6
Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity among Massachusetts Cities and Towns
by Katharine Bradbury and Bo Zhao
Working Paper 06-3
Partnership Aid: A Proposal on Reforming Municipal Aid
in Massachusetts
Metro Mayors' Coalition (July 27, 2011)
Fiscal Challenges Facing Smaller, Industrial Cities
Conference on Collaboration and Leadership in Smaller Industrial Cities (July 13, 2011)
Designing Formulas for Distributing State Aid Reductions
2011 Federal Reserve System Applied Microeconomic Analysis Conference (May 5, 2011)
Reforming Municipal Aid in Massachusetts
Massachusetts State House (March 2, 2011)
State Aid to Municipalities: Measuring Local Non-School Fiscal Distress and Designing an Aid Formula
Conference on Financing Municipalities in New England: Revisiting the State-Local Relationship (December 5, 2007)
Designing State Aid Formulas: The Case of a New Formula for Distributing Municipal Aid in Massachusetts
The National Tax Association 100th Annual Conference on Taxation (November 17, 2007)
In 2013, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick proposed reforming local aid starting in FY 2014. The Governor's budget calls for a total of $930 million in non-school local aid, which represents a $31 million (3.4 percent) increase from the FY 2013 amount and a partial recovery following five successive years of local aid cuts.The additional $31 million would be apportioned according to a formula that takes localities' own revenue capacity into account, similar to that proposed by the Center's research. This allocation benefits places with low property values and incomes, such as Springfield, Lawrence, Lowell, and other economically disadvantaged Gateway Cities in Massachusetts.
Proposed legislation, Massachusetts:
An act reforming additional assistance to municipalities (proposed in 2011 and in 2013)
An act relative to reforming municipal aid formulas (proposed in 2011)
Policy leaders briefed:
House Chair of Massachusetts Gateway Cities Caucus (December 13, 2010)
House Chair of Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue (November 29, 2010)
Beacon Hill Institute (September 30, 2010)
Boston Municipal Research Bureau (September 29, 2010)
Mass. Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Massachusetts Department of Revenue (September 23, 2010)
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (September 22, 2010)
Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (September 17, 2010)
Jobs for Massachusetts Forum (September 14, 2010)
MassInc. (July 12, 2010)
City of Brockton Administration, MA (July 23, 2010)
UMass Dartmouth Urban Initiative (August 24, 2010)
City of New Bedford Administration (December 28, 2010)
Municipal aid forum sponsored by Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Franklin Regional Council of Governments (January 14, 2011)
Chair of Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee (January 13, 2011)
City of Boston Administration (August 8, 2011)
The Center's local aid reform recommendation is the sole reform proposal featured in the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center's 2012 report, "Demystifying General Local Aid in Massachusetts"
Stay Connected
