State Falls Short on Education Aid for Boston
Under the Governors FY19 budget, the state share of the cost of Boston’s School Department operating budget will continue to be less than the year before.
Under the Governors FY19 budget, the state share of the cost of Boston’s School Department operating budget will continue to be less than the year before.
Boston’s total accumulated liability for compensated absences was $200.3M (as of 6/16) – 71% is for accumulated sick days. With a $142M sick leave liability, the City should evaluate the utility of the payment for unused sick days and seek to reduce future payouts in contract negotiations.
The Commonwealth is not keeping pace with revenue sharing to its largest city, especially state education aid, even though the City is an important driver of the state’s economy.
Boston ended FY17 with a $6.7M General Fund operating surplus due to conservative revenue estimates and ongoing control over spending for permanent employees. Not all revenue sources planned in the FY17 budget needed to be utilized.