HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3285        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3354

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Antonio F. D. Cabral

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act implementing fair revenue sharing among all cities and towns.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3285        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3354

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act implementing fair revenue sharing among all cities and towns.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 40W the following chapter:-

CHAPTER 40X

ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE TO MUNICIPALITIES.

Section 1.Definitions. In this chapter—

(a)the term “additional assistance” means the amount appropriated to a municipality by acts making general appropriations for each fiscal year and designated therein as “unrestricted general government aid,” less the distribution to said municipality pursuant to clause (c) of the second paragraph of section 35 of chapter 10 of the General Laws.

(b)the term “municipal cost” means the sum of 28 times the municipality’s population density, plus 19.8 times the municipality’s poverty rate, plus 81 times the municipality’s unemployment rate, plus 272 times the jobs per capita rate of the municipality, plus 570.2.

(c)the term “municipal gap” means the difference between municipal costs and municipal revenue raising capacity.

(d)the term “municipal revenue raising capacity” means the sum of 0.0142 times the per capita taxable residential property value raised to the two-thirds power, multiplied by the per capita income of the municipality’s residents raised to the one-thirds power, plus 0.0126 multiplied by the per capita taxable nonresidential property value of the municipality; and

(e)the term “secretary” means the secretary of administration and finance.

Section 2.The secretary shall calculate the municipal gap for each municipality and shall make available to the house and senate committees on ways and means, in an electronically compatible format, the underlying data and calculations necessary to generate the municipal gap and each component of state aid authorized for distribution to municipalities pursuant to this chapter.

Section 3.Any additional assistance appropriated beyond the total amount appropriated in the last full fiscal year before the passage of this act shall be appropriated solely to those municipalities with a municipal gap greater than 0 and in proportion to each municipality’s municipal gap as determined pursuant to section 2.