FY26 State Aid

State aid is the City’s second-largest single source of general fund revenue. State aid revenues are determined by the State. Their portion of the budget has decreased over the past two decades.

Page Sections

State aid is revenue paid by the Commonwealth to support City departments. The State also charges the City assessments for charter schools, the MBTA, and other programs. Total state aid revenues minus State assessments is referred to as net state aid.

Still have questions? Contact:
Budget

617-635-3870

send an email

1 City Hall Square
Room 813

Boston, MA 02201-2037
United States
Get the Data
View PDFs of the Budget Book

State Aid and Assessments

State Aid Revenue

State aid refers to payments from the state to municipalities for Chapter 70 education aid, unrestricted general government aid (UGGA), charter school tuition reimbursement, and other small programs. The FY26 state aid budget totals $520.9 million, $4.9 million more, or 0.9%, from FY25. This increase is mostly due to increases in Chapter 70 and UGGA ($9.4 million, 2.0%). This is partially reduced by a decrease in the charter school tuition reimbursement, -$5.5 million, or -12.8%. State aid sources include:

Chapter 70 Education Aid - $241.0 million
Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA) - $238.4 million
Charter School Tuition Reimbursement - $37.6 million
Other categories, including State Owned Land and Veterans Benefits - $3.9 million

State Assessments

Assessments are budgeted to increase by $12.0 million, or 3.1%, totaling $399.7 million. They include:

Charter School Tuition - $291.9 million
MBTA - $100.4 million
Other categories, including RMV Non-Renewal Surcharge and School Choice Sending Tuition - $7.5 million

Net State Aid

State Aid Over Time

Net state aid measures the level of fiscal support received by the State. In FY26 this amount is budgeted at $121.2 million, $7.1 million less than FY25. Assessments increased by $12.0 million and revenues only increased by $4.9 million.

Between FY08 and FY26, net state aid has decreased by $243.9 million, or a 77.0% drop. This loss of resources has put significant pressure on the City to generate revenue from other sources to support essential government services.

Net state aid by fiscal year since FY08 has generally been decreasing year-over-year. Hovering over the different points will display each year’s revenue, assessments and net state aid.

FY24 and FY25 are budgeted amounts.

Net Education Aid

Net education aid is the part of state aid that is for education items only. Net education aid is the sum of Chapter 70 education aid and the charter school tuition reimbursement less the charter school tuition assessment. Net education aid in the FY26 budget totals -$13.3 million, a decrease of $10.0 million from FY25. This means that the City pays more in assessments than it receives in aid.

Between FY08 and FY26, net education aid decreased by $184.5 million, or a 107.8% drop. Over this time the charter school tuition assessment has grown by 399%, greatly outpacing state aid revenues. The negative net aid balance estimated for FY26 puts added stress on this year's budget.

Net education aid has generally been decreasing each year. Hovering over the different points will display each year’s revenue, assessments and net education aid.

FY25 and FY26 are budgeted amounts.