“Town will also see an increase in Chapter 70 and unrestricted local aid“
The House and Senate have approved a $63.4 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2027 that includes state funding assistance for the Reading Council on Aging, as well as additional local aid for the town.
House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) and Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester) successfully secured a $50,000 earmark in the budget for the Reading Council on Aging. This funding will be used to support the Council’s purchase of a van that is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In addition to these funding earmarks, Reading will also see increases in both Chapter 70 education aid and Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA), which supports a wide range of municipal programs and services, including public safety. Reading will receive $12,931,313 in Chapter 70 aid, an increase of $605,280 over Fiscal Year 2026, as well as $4,182,317 in UGGA funding, which is an increase of $146,550.
“I’m pleased to have been able to work with Representative Haggerty and Senator Lewis to advocate for this important funding priority for the Reading Council on Aging, which will help to make the Council’s programming more accessible for local seniors, and to deliver additional local aid to help support Reading’s schools and preserve essential municipal services for the town’s residents,” said Representative Jones.
“I was happy to work with my colleagues Representative Jones and Senator Lewis to help secure the funding for the Reading Council on Aging, allowing our seniors to take part in more of the Council’s activities and services,” said Representative Haggerty. “The increased education funding for Reading in this budget is a win for our community as we work to give our teachers and students the tools they need to succeed. The local aid funding ensures our town can continue to provide important public safety initiatives and municipal services that our residents have come to rely on each and every day. Generally speaking, this is a fiscally responsible budget that continues to address community needs like early education, affordable housing, and public transit while adding to the state’s Rainy-Day Fund, all without raising taxes.”
“I’m proud that this budget delivers critical funding to our public schools and communities, reconvenes the Foundation Budget Review Commission to investigate new ways to ensure adequate and equitable funding for all school districts, and makes our state more affordable for working families with significant investments in housing, healthcare, and childcare,” said Senator Lewis. “I’m especially pleased that Minority Leader Jones, Representative Haggerty, and I were able to secure funding to support the purchase of a new ADA-compliant van for the Reading Council on Aging.”
Jones, Haggerty and Lewis noted that the Fiscal Year 2027 budget includes language reconvening the Foundation Budget Review Commission, which will evaluate how foundation budgets are calculated and recommend potential changes to the Chapter 70 formula to ensure a more equitable distribution of school funding moving forward. The commission will also look at spending on other education-related programs to see where improvements can be made, such as rural school aid, charter school costs, out-of-district special education costs, and school district transportation costs, including road mileage and geographic area, with an initial report and recommendations due to be filed by October 31, 2028.
The Fiscal Year 2027 budget provides cities and towns with $57.1 million in regional school transportation, $35.2 million in homeless student transportation under the McKinney-Vento Act, $654.6 million in Special Education Circuit Breaker funding, and $200.4 million in charter school reimbursements. It also sets aside $16 million in rural school aid, along with $5.3 million for the school food services program and $4.4 million for the school breakfast program.
The House and Senate enacted the budget on July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year, which means Governor Maura Healey has until July 11 to review and act on the spending proposal. In the meantime, the state will continue to operate under a $7.7 billion interim budget that was approved on June 29.
