By Sam Drysdale and John L. Micek, May 6, 2026
They argued that lawmakers are interested in developing a more equitable distribution formula in the future and view the per-capita approach as a straightforward starting point.
The Senate plan would add $53 million in unrestricted government aid, or UGGA, in the new fiscal year that starts July 1.
They’d distribute it in fiscal year 2027 and distribute that increase based on a per capita formula, while leaving the underlying $1.323 billion allocation approach unchanged.
Further MassBudget Reference:
Phineas Baxandall, the think tank’s policy director, said the plan is two steps forward and one step backward.
“We have two cheers for this proposal,” Baxandall said, pointing to both the funding increase and the Senate’s acknowledgment that the current distribution system is outdated. “We are supportive of an increase in funding that might even keep up with inflation after years of underfunding.”But in an analysis released Wednesday, the Boston-based group said the Senate plan “increases funding for cities and towns, but risks regressivity” due to the per-capita model for the extra $53 million increase.Baxandall said the change to a per-capita model moves the state away from addressing disparities in municipal resources.
In a state where municipalities depend heavily on property taxes to fund local services, communities with higher property values can generate more revenue locally than those with lower values, he argued.That creates disparities in funding capacity. Local aid is one of the primary mechanisms used to offset those differences.
“Local aid is crucial to bring some kind of equity and equality of opportunity for residents across the commonwealth,” Baxandall said. “Replacing obsolete targeting with no targeting whatsoever isn’t the direction to go.”
