State distributes Fair Share funding to towns for road projects

Date: 1/10/2024

The Healey-Driscoll administration has distributed $100 million to cities and towns for roadwork, courtesy of the Fair Share Amendment. In November 2022, Massachusetts voters approved a 4% surtax on income over $1 million. The amended law dedicates the additional revenue to education and transportation.

The amount each municipality received was based on two formulas. Half the money was allotted using the Chapter 90 state aid for road work funding formula. The other half was calculated based on the community’s share of the state’s road mileage.

Hampden has been discussing various uses for the $152,747 it was allocated. There are several road projects the town has sought funding to complete, including a bridge repair on Main Street, a traffic mitigation solution at the intersection of Allen Street and Wilbraham, Somers and East Longmeadow roads, construction of a sidewalk along Allen Street and Somers Road and the design of a sidewalk on Main Street that would link to an existing sidewalk. While the Fair Share funding is not enough to complete these projects on its own, the money could be combined with other grants and funding sources.

Alternatively, the money could be added to the Highway Department budget to help pay for road maintenance. Highway Superintendent Mark Langone spoke about roadway needs including guardrail upgrades on Glendale Road.

Langone said he spoke with a state aid engineer who said the funding follows Chapter 90 rules and can be carried over for up to 10 years. “We’re not under the gun to spend that money,” Board of Selectmen member Craig Rivest said at Hampden’s Jan. 2 Board of Selectmen meeting.

In Wilbraham, DPW Director Tonya Capparello said the $302,518 in Fair Share funding “couldn’t have come at a better time.” The town has had to pay for unexpected roadway and bridge projects over the first half of fiscal year 2024, leaving “significantly” less money to devote to paving the roads. “The Fair Share funding will now enable us to pave roads that we had to cut from our budget,” Capparello said.
Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn Simmons said the town’s allotment of $260,481 will be added to the existing Chapter 90 funding to use for road projects in the future.

Meanwhile, East Longmeadow has not yet determined how its $308,486 allotment will be used. That question will be tackled when the town is further into its FY25 budgeting process.

The city of Springfield received an additional $1.6 million for roads from the Fair Share Amendment. The city anticipates receiving $3.6 million from Chapter 90, bringing the total to about $5 million for paving for the coming season.

According to Mayor Domenic Sarno’s Communications Director Bill Baker, the city of Springfield is not receiving anything for the education side. “It looks like the state is going to use that funding to pay for their free school meals in the commonwealth program,” Baker said.

Springfield already offers free school meals through a federal program it qualifies for, so it will not participate in the state program. Baker said suburban communities that do not qualify or meet eligibility qualifications for the federal program, such as Wilbraham and Longmeadow, will likely opt in and take advantage of that.

Baker said road specific projects cannot be identified yet because the city is still waiting on the official Chapter 90 letter from the state, which should come in February.

Regarding the funding for roads, Baker said, “We’re definitely [going to] take it and use it because we always have roads, curbs and sidewalks to pave. There [are] definitely no shortages of paving work that we can do.”

He continued, “This $1.6 million is definitely welcomed and we’re looking forward to eventually getting it.”

The City Council was scheduled to authorize use of the Fair Share Amendment funding at its Jan. 8 meeting, after Reminder Publishing’s deadline. Once approved and the Chapter 90 letter is received, the city will start putting together a list of the streets to be addressed through this funding.
Reminder Publishing Staff Writer Lauren Lebel contributed to this report.