1995-1997-TOWN MEETING RECORDS - Laserfiche WebLink

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FY97 Cherry Sheet Analysis and Issues The total of FY97 estimated receipts for cities, towns and regional school districts is $3.482 billion, an increase of$290 million or 9.1% from the FY96 Cherry Sheet totals of$3.192 billion. The increase is primarily attributable to an increase of$229.8 million in Chapter 70 aid and$41.6 million in lottery aid. Enclosed you will also find notification of the estimated FY97 assessments and charges to your municipality or regional school district. The total of estimated charges for municipalities as listed in Column 1 of form C.S. 1-EC is $204.2 million, an increase of$3.3 million or 1.6% compared to the FY96 total of$200.9 million. The impact of these and other program changes on your municipality or regional school district is shown on the enclosed program by program comparison of the FY96 and FY97 Cherry Sheet estimates. It should be noted that the $41.6 million increase in lottery receipts has been factored into calculations of municipal revenue growth factors. However, none of the $41.6 million increase in lottery aid has been applied to reduce overburden aid as prescribed in MGL Chapter 70, Section 5. Also, FY97 budget language specified that all municipalities and regional school districts will again receive FY97 minimum aid of$75 per pupil. Local officials should also be aware that, in some cases, their Cherry Sheets may reflect more Chapter 70 aid than was originally included in Section 3 of the FY97 budget. The higher number reflects updated calculations for these municipalities and districts and will be funded through transfers to Chapter 70 from the foundation reserve appropriation account. In other cases, some municipalities and districts received more Chapter 70 in Section 3 than they should have,in light of these updated calculations. These municipalities and districts will receive this additional aid in FY97, but the Department of Education (DOE) will adjust FY98 base aid so that it does not include any excess FY97 Chapter 70. DOE will also notify the affected municipalities u and districts of the amount of the excess when they issue final local contribution and net school spending requirements later this week. Local officials should also note that the appropriation for school construction aid (Chapter 645 of the Acts of 1948) contains little margin for error. We have, however, prepared FY97 Cherry Sheets to include the full allocation for each municipality and regional school district from this account. Historically, there have been unspent balances in this account after actual payments are adjusted based on project audit results. If sufficient balances are not available from these reversions to meet the full allocations, a supplemental appropriation will be sought to fund any shortfall. !I' ,I