New administration creates rural development director

Date: 3/21/2023

Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kimberly Driscoll visited Franklin County on March 10 to announce a new position, director of rural affairs, to serve as an advocate in state government for small and rural towns across the commonwealth.

“For the first time in state history,” Healey said, “we will have a dedicated staff member committed to coordinating across state government, to support economic development in rural communities.”

The new director will work to increase economic opportunities for rural communities and enhance rural infrastructure. A related responsibility will be to alert state agencies and secretariats about the special needs of rural towns, to better inform policy development. The new official will occupy an office in the Executive Office of Economic Development.

In a later conversation, Driscoll echoed the desire to better synchronize efforts in state government.

“We’re excited about the rural affairs director post,” Driscoll said. “We expect this position to work cross sector to identify challenges and help us make sure we’re an administration that is representing all of our communities. That’s really important to the governor and me.”

An important task on the horizon for the director of rural affairs will be coordination of grant opportunities for small towns. The new director will review state grant programs in an effort to reduce the difficulties for smaller municipalities when applying for funding. Many rural towns currently hire consultants to help in the application process; but under the director of rural affairs, small towns will receive technical assistance that should reduce that burden. Tech support will be in addition to the Community Compact Connector Calendar that currently aggregates grant opportunities.

The Healey-Driscoll administration also announced many new funding sources in its proposed fiscal year 2024 budget for small and rural towns, as well as increases in existing funding lines for rural schools and infrastructure. A relatively new funding line for rural school aid will be increased under the first proposed budget to $7.5 million, an increase of 36 percent.

Transportation, farming and PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) increases are also being proposed. The PILOT payments for state-owned land will increase 14 percent, to $51.5 million.

“This year we did increase it 14 percent,” Driscoll said, “with a nod toward trying to be better partners, particularly in our rural communities where these dollars really matter in the operating budget…We definitely think that property valuation, how it’s generated, needs to be looked at. Early on, first budget, we wanted to at least make a stand to improve things.”

Rural Transit Authorities will receive $19 million more under the new administration, which earmarks at least 25 percent for rural community initiatives. The East-West Passenger Rail initiative will receive funding to hire five full-time employees, including a director. The first Healey-Driscoll budget will also recommend an additional $12.5 million for future development, including improvements at the Pittsfield station and the design of a station in Palmer.

“Rural communities have a bigger challenge when it comes to transportation because, of course, the population isn’t as great, and the geography is larger,” Driscoll said. “There’s new technology options tied to Uber-like systems and micro-transit options that we’re seeing in other communities [and] we’ve increased funding for regional transportation authorities, in general, to pick up inflationary upgrades and things we know are happening within their operations.”

Healey emphasized that under her administration, small and rural towns across the commonwealth will see greater representation. The new executives both feel grateful for the chance to help rural towns thrive.

“We want to send a clear message to every single person who calls rural Massachusetts home,” Healey said. “We see you, we value you, and we’re going to work every day to ensure you have the representation and support you deserve.”