1. What we measured | Commonwealth

Section summary

Over ten budgets, FY2017 through FY2026, the state distributed $93.4 billion through its budget to the 351 cities and towns and their school districts, counting formula aid at its gross amount; about $9.0 billion, 9.6%, was federal money passed through state appropriations. Formula aid was 97% of the total. Competitive grants came to $2.52 billion. Enacted local earmarks came to $485 million naming the town, $718 million placed in the town and $811 million counting everything placed, and every earmark figure in this report names its measure.

Boston shows why this report counts local earmarks three ways. Over the ten budgets FY2017–FY2026, clauses that name the city came to $105.4 million: hazardous-materials teams shared with Cambridge and Everett, the fire department’s training academy, the New England Aquarium. That is the first measure, and per resident it ranks Boston 12th of 351.

The second measure adds $160.1 million for organizations whose address is in the city, many of them serving the whole state from a Boston headquarters. The largest is $3.3 million a year, in FY2025 and FY2026, for a juvenile court mental-health project run by Health Law Advocates. It sets aside $9.6 million for state facilities the clauses name, such as Project Evolve at the Suffolk County jail. The total is $255.9 million, third in the state per resident.

The third measure puts those state facilities back and adds $12.0 million in MassHealth rate add-ons, $3 million a budget for Franciscan Children’s Hospital from FY2023 to FY2026. The total is $277.5 million, fifth per resident.

Each figure is right for what it counts. The choice of measure moves Boston’s total by $172.1 million, which is why every earmark figure in this report names its measure.

Sources: General Appropriations Acts FY2017–FY2026 (malegislature.gov); Parcenomics analysis of enacted “not less than” clauses placed by town on three measures; population from U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024.

This report follows state money to the 351 cities and towns across ten enacted budgets, FY2017 through FY2026. It covers three channels.

Formula aid is money the state distributes by rule: Chapter 70 school aid, unrestricted local aid, Chapter 90 road money and the other cherry-sheet programs. It is most of the money and the least discretionary.

Competitive grants are awarded by executive agencies on application: MassWorks, Complete Streets, culvert and dam repair, climate resilience, library construction and others.

Earmarks are the “not less than” clauses the Legislature writes into the budget, directing a sum to a named place or organization. Local earmarks are counted on three measures, set out below.

Every dollar carries its stage. A request is filed as a budget amendment, adopted or rejected by each chamber, kept or dropped in conference, signed or vetoed by the governor, sometimes restored by override, and finally paid or not. A vetoed earmark that is not overridden counts as zero. Earmark figures in this report are enacted budget text unless stated otherwise; matching each earmark to a payment is not yet done.

The evidence base:

23,830 budget amendments filed in both chambers, FY2017–FY2026, with sponsor and disposition, from the malegislature.gov amendment records. Of these, 16,166 ask for a dollar amount, excluding the Ways and Means corrective and technical amendments.
10,040 enacted earmark clauses, parsed from the ten General Appropriations Acts and placed in a town where the text or the recipient’s address allows.
Every grant and aid payment in the Comptroller’s CTHRU spending data, classed formula, competitive, earmark, shared revenue, state-entity transfer, pass-through or unknown, and placed by town. CTHRU records cherry-sheet aid net of assessments, so Chapter 70 and the other cherry-sheet programs are counted at their gross DESE and Division of Local Services amounts.
13,339 competitive award records; the 10,740 counted for FY2017–FY2026 total $2.73 billion.
Burden measures for every town: road miles, town-owned bridges, culverts, dams, coastline, floodplain, pupils, jobs and housing.
152 recorded roll calls on the Legislature’s own rules, pay and transparency, with 15,683 member votes, matched to stipends from the state payroll.
Need indicators for every town: poverty, median household income, property wealth per resident and Chapter 70 share.

Two conventions matter throughout. A fiscal year is credited to the General Court that enacted its budget, on that court’s district lines. And “leadership” money that arrives through Ways and Means base text or conference is reported as its own stratum; it is never assigned to a local member who did not file for it.

Ten years of state money

Over ten budgets, FY2017 through FY2026, the state distributed $93.4 billion through its budget to the 351 cities and towns and their school districts, counting formula aid at its gross amount. That figure is state and federal aid together: about $9.0 billion, 9.6%, was federal money passed through state appropriations. Formula aid was 97% of the total. Competitive grants came to $2.52 billion and enacted local earmarks naming the town to $0.49 billion, together about 3%; earmarks are counted as enacted, not as paid. The findings concern how formula aid, competitive grants and earmarks reach the towns. Counted more widely, local earmarks come to $0.72 billion or $0.81 billion; the three measures are set out below.

Three ways to count a local earmark

A local earmark is a “not less than” clause in the enacted budget that sends money to a particular place. This study looks at fairness by place, and there are three ways to decide which clauses belong to a town. They give different totals, so this report uses all three and names the measure with every earmark figure.

Names the town: $485 million over ten years, FY2017–FY2026. Clauses that direct money to the city or town by name. This is the money closest to the municipal budget, which is why the Fairness Index uses it.
Placed in the town: $718 million. Adds $268 million for organizations located in the town, placed by their address. State facilities and rate add-ons that name a town, $34 million, count on the third measure instead.
Everything placed: $811 million. Adds $93 million for state facilities located in the town and MassHealth rate add-ons for providers there. The largest is the $31 million FY2026 clause for the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton.

All three are small beside the $5.44 billion of “not less than” clauses in the ten budgets. Most of that sets floors for statewide programs.