Bill > H3877

This bill establishes a new chapter in Massachusetts law, Chapter 40X, titled "Supplemental Infrastructure Financing for Transportation," which allows municipalities to finance transportation projects through a mechanism called "SIFT" (Supplemental Infrastructure Financing for Transportation) agreements. A SIFT agreement is a contract between a municipality and the Secretary of Transportation that designates a specific area, known as a SIFT district, and allows the municipality to collect tax increment revenue generated by increased property values within that district. This tax increment, which is the portion of property taxes attributable to the increase in assessed value above a predetermined "base date" or "original assessed value," can then be used to fund eligible transportation projects, such as road construction, transit stations, or rail extensions, as defined by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The bill outlines the process for issuing a SIFT certificate, entering into a SIFT agreement, including public hearings and municipal approval, and how the tax increment is calculated and remitted. It also creates separate funds, the MBTA SIFT Fund and the Department of Transportation SIFT Fund, to hold and disburse these tax increment revenues, which can be used for project costs and to secure debt obligations issued by the MBTA or DOT. Finally, the bill mandates a study on dedicating new state tax revenues from businesses within SIFT districts to transportation projects.