State Gives Towns Funding For Transportation Improvements
The Town of Bourne is set to receive more than $300,000 in funding from the state in 2024 to be used for improvements to transportation infrastructure.
Word of the funding appropriation came on December 15 when the Healey-Driscoll administration announced that it would be delivering more than $100 million in grant funding to the state’s 351 municipalities to support local infrastructure improvements. The funding awards, the governor’s office said, comes from revenue generated by Massachusetts’ Fair Share Amendment.
The Fair Share Amendment was passed by Massachusetts voters in 2022 and generates income by imposing a 4 percent surtax on annual income above $1 million. Revenue from the Fair Share Amendment then goes back into communities, intended to fund local public education and transportation systems.
Representative Steven Xiarhos (R-5th Barnstable) announced last week that Bourne would receive a total of $313,758 in funding from the state for transportation infrastructure improvements. The representative also announced that Sandwich and Barnstable would receive financial assistance as well.
A press release from Rep. Xiarhos’s office dated December 22 states that this newest round of funding “supplements the annual Chapter 90 appropriation for municipalities, which was finalized by the House and Senate on July 27 and signed into law on August 3.”
Bourne’s appropriation of Chapter 90 funding for Fiscal Year 2024, according to the state’s latest documentation, is $599,698.71.
This latest round of transportation infrastructure funding, of which Bourne was given more than $300,000, was authorized by the Legislature through a line-item inserted into the FY 2024 state budget, the representative’s press release said. The budget was signed into law on August 9.
The funding is being distributed using a two-pronged formula, with $50 million being awarded using the traditional Chapter 90 formula, which factors in a community’s local road mileage (58.33 percent), population (20.83 percent) and employment (20.83 percent). The remaining $50 million will be distributed based on each community’s share of road mileage. Each community will receive a different total amount according to how the two formulas apportion the money.
According to Rep. Xiarhos, Bourne is set to receive $163,833 for road mileage and $149,925 from the Chapter 90 formula for a total apportionment of $313,758; Sandwich will receive $249,580 based on road mileage and $193,853 based on the Chapter 90 formula, for a total apportionment of $443,433; and Barnstable will receive $588,132 based on road mileage and another $495,437 from Chapter 90 for a total apportionment of $1,083,569.
Additionally, Falmouth is set to receive $384,206 for road mileage and $314,075 from the Chapter 90 formula for a total of $698,281; and Mashpee will get $190,239 for road mileage and $148,839 from the Chapter 90 formula for a total of $339,078 in funding.
Municipalities can use the new grant funding to cover the costs of a variety of construction, preservation and improvement projects. This includes costs for highway projects and pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Eligible projects include installing sidewalks, bicycle lanes, new pavement, sidewalks, retaining walks, crossing signals and other transportation infrastructure features.