Bill > H1828

This bill proposes to create a new chapter in the general laws, Chapter 40X, titled "Additional Assistance to Municipalities," to ensure fair and adequate funding for cities and towns. It defines key terms such as "Additional Assistance" as unrestricted general government aid minus a specific distribution from Chapter 10, "Municipal Cost" which is calculated based on a formula involving population density, poverty rate, unemployment rate, and jobs per capita, and "Municipal Gap" as the difference between a municipality's costs and its ability to raise revenue. The bill also defines "Municipal Revenue Capacity" based on taxable property values and per capita income, and designates the "Secretary" as the secretary of administration and finance. The secretary will be responsible for calculating the municipal gap for each municipality and providing the data to legislative committees. Crucially, any additional state aid appropriated beyond the previous fiscal year's total will be distributed only to municipalities with a municipal gap greater than zero, and the amount each receives will be proportional to their calculated gap.