Commonwealth Capital Investment Plan

Introduction

The Executive Office for Administration and Finance (A&F) develops and manages a multi-year capital investment plan. This plan allows the Commonwealth to establish capital investment priorities throughout its state agencies and to plan for the sourcing of funds required to support these investments. The capital investment programs are managed through seven state agencies and three independent authorities. In addition to direct capital investments, A&F allocates, on behalf of the Commonwealth, federally provided private activity bond volume capacity among three independent authorities to finance economic development projects, subsidized student loans, affordable housing projects, and low interest mortgages.

Expenditures

The Commonwealth is projected to expend $2.880 billion for capital investments in FY05, a $665 million increase from FY04. The following summarizes the Commonwealth's total capital investments since FY00:

The investments are segregated into four separate capital budgets:

• Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project, which is managed by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority;
• Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and the Springfield Arena and Convention Center, which are managed by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority;
• School Building Assistance, which is managed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority; and
• "Balance-of-State", which are capital investments in state agencies managed by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance through state agencies.

The graph below provides a historical trend analysis of the Commonwealth's investments in the capital budgets:

Funding

The budgets are funded by Commonwealth debt (both general obligation and special obligation), operating revenues, third-party payments, and federal reimbursements. The following provides an analysis of the amount and percentage of the annual total that each funding source contributed to the Commonwealth's total capital investment plan:

*Totals may not add due to rounding

Debt issuance funded 68% of the capital program during the last six fiscal years. The reliance on debt proceeds has contributed to the Commonwealth's increased debt load. The Commonwealth had approximately $11.8 billion in direct debt outstanding on June 30, 1999 and is projected to have approximately $18.2 billion as of June 30, 2005, for an 7.5% compound annual growth rate.

Administrative Bond Cap

In the early 1990's, A&F instituted an administrative bond "cap," which established an annual level of bond issuance in support of the "balance-of-state" capital budget. The FY05 administrative bond cap is $1.180 billion (including $30 million carryover from FY04) in support of the $1.524 billion "balance-of-state" capital investment plan. The Administration announced in the fall of 2003 that the bond cap would be $1.150 billion in FY05 and $1.250 billion annually in FY06 through FY08. The following details the administrative bond cap and total "balance-of-state" capital expenditures since FY00:

¹ Includes federal reimbursement

Balance-of-State Capital Budget

The Administration revamped the planning process for the "balance-of-state" capital plan in FY04 and FY05. Capital planning now requires that state agencies develop budget proposals based on a "modified zero-based budget" paradigm. This paradigm recognizes that many capital investments take multiple years to design and construct. As such, these projects are allocated funds over the life of the project, which sets the baseline capital budgets for the state agencies. All other proposed investments are subject to review by A&F and compete for unallocated funds.

In addition to the new budgeting approach, the revamped capital planning process required state agencies to segment their capital budget proposals by category of spending. These categories are called "Major Investment Programs." To augment the budget proposals, state agencies submitted memorandums describing these Major Investment Programs, including historical spending, project concentration and program outcomes. A&Fconducted due diligence on each budget proposal by meeting with each state agency and analyzing the submitted plans.

Upon completion of the due diligence process, A&F set the FY05 capital budget and notified state agencies of its budget and approved programs/projects. The capital budget was developed based on the following tenets:

• "Fix-It-First": An Administration priority to repair the Commonwealth's productive asset base
• Finishing projects on time and within budget
• Reimbursing grant recipients on a timely basis
• Limiting expansion to only core needs
• Limiting non-capital costs on the capital budget

A&F approved a $1.524 billion "balance-of-state" capital budget (including federal reimbursements) for FY05. The following table details the budget:

FY06 and Beyond

A&F recently commenced the FY06 capital planning process with state agencies. The planning process will retain the FY05 focus on "bottom-up" budgeting. The Administration remains committed to multi-year capital budgeting, and the upcoming year's capital budget will provide state agencies with guidance on future budget allocations. However, state agencies will still be required to justify program/project recommendations on an on-going basis. The Administration intends to release the FY06 budget by late February or early March.

Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T)

The CA/T Project entails replacing Boston's deteriorating six-lane elevated Central Artery (Interstate 93) with an eight-to-ten lane state-of-the-art underground highway, building two new bridges over the Charles River (the Leverett Circle Connector Bridge and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge), and constructing a third tunnel (the Ted Williams Tunnel) under Boston harbor that extends Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) to Logan International Airport and Route 1A. The depression of the Central Artery creates more than 260 acres of open land and reconnects downtown Boston to the city's waterfront.

As of October 31, 2004, project construction was 94.9% complete. As of that date, approximately $13.925 billion of the total budget of $14.625 billion was under contract or agreement. The date for the Interstate 93 complete southbound opening is now projected for March 2005 to June 2005, and the date for the CA/T Project substantial completion is now projected for May 2005 to September 2005.

School Building Assistance

To address substantial need for school building projects across the state, the Commonwealth has created the School Building Assistance Authority (MSBA). Prior to establishment of the authority, the Commonwealth reimbursed 50 to 90 percent of the construction and borrowing costs on 748 school projects to cities, towns and regional school districts across the state. In addition to the 748 school projects receiving reimbursement, the Department of Education had approved an additional 425 school projects for funding, though they had not yet begun to receive any reimbursement from the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth estimates its share of the costs associated with these 425 school projects to be in excess of $4.1 billion.

The authority is now responsible for paying the state's share of costs for projects receiving reimbursements and those on the waiting list to begin receiving reimbursements. Starting on July 1, 2007, it will also be permitted to accept new applications for school renovation and construction projects and to fund them. The school building reform legislation also switches borrowing responsibility from local governments to the MSBA for the state's share of future school project costs, authorizes the authority to borrow up to $10 billion to meet its obligations, and limits the authority's grant making to $500 million in fiscal 2008 with 4.5% increases in each subsequent fiscal year.

The MSBA will receive funds from the state sales tax to fund its projects and operations. Beginning in FY 2011, the authority will receive one cent of the state sales tax, excluding certain meals and special financing district sales taxes. (This portion of sales tax receipts is referred to as the "dedicated sales tax.") Until then, state sales tax revenue will be diverted to the authority in the following percentages and amounts: $395.7 million in fiscal 2005; 70% of the Dedicated Sales Tax, with a minimum of $488.7 million, in fiscal 2006; 78% of the Dedicated Sales Tax, with a minimum of $557.4 million, in fiscal 2007; 85% of the Dedicated Sales Tax, with a minimum of $634.7 million, in fiscal 2008; 90% of the Dedicated Sales Tax, with a minimum of $702.3 million, in fiscal 2009; and 95% of the Dedicated Sales Tax in fiscal 2010.

In addition, the Commonwealth provided start-up funding from the authority through a $150 million appropriation from the FY 2004 state surplus and a $1 billion state general obligation bond authorization. The governor has agreed to provide the full $1 billion of authorized state capital funds, of which the Commonwealth plans to pay the authority $500 million during the last two quarters of fiscal year 2005 and another $500 million during the first two quarters of fiscal year 2006.

Reauthorization and Deauthorization

For the past several years, the Commonwealth has maintained a substantial level of authorized but unissued debt. The Administration's capital management policies include the careful scrutiny of authorized debt and the deauthorization of unnecessary commitments wherever possible. Authorized but unissued debt is estimated to be $9.6 billion on June 30, 2005.

$ millions

* Excluding refunding