DLS City & Town

Announcing Year Four of the Community Compact Cabinet Program

Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito

I hope you all are enjoying your summer and that you’ve been able to experience some of the great vacation spots Massachusetts has to offer, from the Berkshires to the Cape. I'm writing to announce the fourth year of our Community Compact Cabinet (CCC) program. The Community Compact Cabinet elevates the Administration's partnership with cities and towns and allows the Governor's Office to work more closely with leaders from all municipalities.

Since the Governor signed his first Executive Order on January 23, 2015 creating the CCC, the programs have proven to be a great tool for our partners in local government. I’m pleased to report that all 351 cities and towns that make up our Commonwealth have elected to enter into a Best Practice Compact! I’m proud of this fact as it demonstrates our commitment to collaborating with municipalities large and small across the state in projects, programs and initiatives that sustain and support our residents.

A number of our initiatives are the direct outcome of the CCC and the strong partnership it has fostered with our partners in local government. For example, the Small Bridges program was created in 2016 after hearing from many local officials about the issues surrounding locally-owned bridges spanning lengths between 10 and 20 feet. The program targets small bridge projects not eligible for federal aid under existing replacement or rehabilitation programming and are at high risk for full or partial closure due to present condition, at up to $500,000 per year, per municipality for administration, design and construction.

For FY19, we are pleased to be able to offer the three programs again. Thanks to the support of our partners in the Legislature, the Best Practice, Efficiency & Regionalization (E&R) Grant, and Information Technology (IT) Grant programs are funded.

• The Best Practice program is dedicated to municipalities that did not apply in FY18, whether it was for a first or second Compact. In keeping with previous practice, "compact communities" receive additional bonus points for various state grants, including the E&R Grant program. This year, we are highlighting the age friendly community, housing, and recycling best practices.

• The IT Grant program is also returning, this time a bit earlier in the calendar: it opened on August 15^th and applications must be in by September 15^th. It will be open to municipalities that did not receive an IT grant in FY18.

• The E&R Grant program will be available in mid-January, with applications due by February 15^th. That program is open to all municipalities, regional school districts, regional planning agencies, councils of governments, and school districts exploring regionalization or shared services.

To read more about all these aspects of the Community Compact Cabinet program,click here. This week, each of the 351 municipal executives in cities and towns across the Commonwealth received an emailed letter from me with information about the programs. We also sent a targeted email to school superintendents, regional planning agency executive directors and council of government executive directors who are eligible for the E&R Grant program. Both letters contained passcodes and links to our website where you'll find additional information and an online application process that's quick and easy.

The CCC program is designed to provide the resources and subject matter expertise necessary to facilitate and foster partnerships, practices and policies that reach across the Commonwealth to positively impact each and every city and town in Massachusetts. We thank you for your support and look forward to continuing to work with you toward that goal.

Finally, I'd like to highlight the conference we’ll once again be hosting in collaboration with the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA). Please join us on Monday, September 24^th at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester for an event centered on “Municipal Collaboration.” State and local officials will join together to share ideas and attend workshops focusing on housing, cybersecurity, economic development, climate resiliency, age friendly communities and other subjects. More information will be sent out soon. We hope you can attend!

Until then, thank you for all you do and keep up the great work!

Data Highlight of the Month: Free Cash

Anthonia Bakare - DLS Municipal Databank

The Division of Local Services (DLS) offers a wide variety of municipal, financial and socioeconomic information. This month's data highlight focuses on free cash. Free cash is the remaining, unrestricted funds from prior year operations that should be appropriated for nonrecurring purposes.

In FY2018, 347 cities and towns had their free cash certified. There was a total of $1,709,999,426 in positive free cash (345 communities), $619,320 in negative free cash (two communities) and a net free cash amount of $1,709,380,106. So far, in FY2019 there are nine communities that have certified free cash totaling $26.7 million.

To see free cash certified for all cities and towns since FY2003, click here.

Remember to visit the Municipal Finance Trend Dashboard which includes trends in certified free cash data under Category One - Operating Position. This data is presented through several charts that can be exported to PDF.

We hope you become better acquainted with the data the Division of Local Services has to offer through the Data Highlight of the Month. For more information, contact us directly at databank@dor.state.ma.us or (617) 626-2384.