FY22 State Aid

State Aid is the City’s second largest single source of general fund revenue, although it has been declining as a share of recurring revenue.

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State Aid is comprised of revenue paid to the City net of state assessments, or charges, the City is required to pay to the state.

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State Aid and Assessments

State Aid Revenue

State aid refers primarily to distributions from the state to municipalities for Chapter 70 education aid, unrestricted general government aid, and charter school tuition reimbursement. The FY22 State Aid budget totals $475.1 million, a $7.3 million or 1.6% increase over the FY21 projection:

Chapter 70 Education Aid - $223.7 million
Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA) - $208.2 million
Charter School Tuition Reimbursement - $41.0 million
Other categories, including State Owned Land and Veterans Benefits - $3.0 million

State Assessments

Assessments are budgeted to increase by $32.4 million, or 10.3%, totaling $346.2 million. They include:

Charter School Tuition - $246.6 million
MBTA - $94.1 million
Other categories, including RMV Non-Renewal Surcharge and School Choice Sending Tuition - $5.4 million

The Student Opportunity Act

The Student Opportunity Act (SOA), passed in 2019, represents a fundamental change in the trajectory of state funding for Boston’s schools and students, providing funding that better reflects the needs of students. The SOA will make an unprecedented $1.5 billion investment in Massachusetts public schools.

When fully implemented, the act will ensure that Boston benefits in two main ways:

Boston's Foundation budget will increase substantially with the full implementation of SOA’s goal foundation rates. In addition, the SOA provides that all low income students are fully counted in every district.
The SOA recognizes the impact the foundation changes have on the charter tuition assessment and includes a commitment to fully fund the charter reimbursement in three years: 75% in the first year, 90% in the second year and 100% in the third year. The Governor’s FY22 budget fully funds Year 1 of the SOA’s commitment for Charter Tuition Reimbursement.

Net State Aid

State Aid Over Time

Net State Aid by fiscal year since FY08 have been decreasing year-over-year. Hovering over the different points will present each year’s revenue, assessments and net state aid.

FY21 is projected amount and FY22 is budgeted amount.

Net State Aid equals state revenue minus state assessments. The FY21 Net State Aid is currently projected to total $153.9 million, while the FY22 budget assumes a $25.0 million reduction to $128.9 million.

Between FY08 and FY22, Net State Aid has decreased by $236.1 million, or a 64.7% drop. This loss of resources has put extraordinary pressure on the property tax and other local revenue sources, as well as on levels of expenditures.