Department of Children's Services Scholarship Fund
Section 41. Notwithstanding the provisions of section nineteen of chapter eighteen B of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the department of children's services may use funds in account 4899-8103, the former wards trust, so called, and interest paid on said account on or after July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three, for the purpose of funding scholarships to be awarded to foster children who are or have been in the care of the department of social services or the department of children's services and who are or will be pursuing a degree at an accredited institution of higher education.
Social Services Block Grant Fringe Benefits
Section 42. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections five D and six B of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws or any other general or special law or regulation to the contrary, during fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven expenditures charged to item 4800-9100 of section two of this act for employees hired before July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six, shall not be subject to fringe benefit and indirect cost charges established pursuant to the provisions of said sections five D and six B.
Uncompensated Care Pool - Private Sector Liability Cap
Section 43. For hospital fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, the private sector liability of purchasers and third party payers to the uncompensated care trust fund established pursuant to the provisions of section seventeen of chapter one hundred eighteen F of the General Laws shall be equal to the sum of all the products of each hospital's allowable free care charges and such hospital's cost to charge ratio, calculated by the department of public health services pursuant to the provisions of section eleven of chapter six B of the General Laws, or three hundred fifteen million dollars, whichever is less. For the state fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, fifteen million dollars generated by federal financial participation made available under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, or its successor, to reimburse the costs of said trust fund for disproportionate share hospitals shall be deposited into said trust fund.
Public Property Recovery of Overhead Costs
Section 44. The secretary of public property is hereby authorized and directed to develop a project accounting system for all pool accounts, so called, including, but not limited to, accounts funding asbestos, handicapped access, demolition, fire protection improvement, environmental hazards, air pollution, energy, preventive maintenance, waste water treatment, and toxic waste clean-up projects. Said project accounting system shall be utilized to assess charges for all project-related costs including, but not limited to, administrative overhead. Said secretary may, in accordance with schedules approved by the secretary of administration and finance, expend as he deems necessary to accomplish the purpose of this section from items 1102-7881, 1102-7882, 1102-7885, 1102-7886, 1102-7887, 1102-7890, 1102-7893, 1102-7894, 1102-7896, 1102-7897, 1102-8801, 1102-8819, 1102-8847, 1102-8869, 1102-8880, 1102-8890, 1102-8891, 1102-8892, 1102-8893, 1102-8895, 1102-8897, 1102-8899 and 1102-9802 not more than seven percent of the amount available in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven in each such item, and may assign employees of the executive office of public property to said projects and hire additional employees as may be required; provided, that the salaries and expenses for such employees shall be charged to the accounts funding each such project.
Public Property Asbestos Cost Recovery Expendable Trust
Section 45. There is hereby established on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund known as the Asbestos Cost Recovery Fund. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, all sums awarded to or received by the commonwealth, after the payment of fees and expenses, as a result of settlement, trial or judgment from Suffolk Superior Court No. 90-3791-A, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Owens Corning Fiberglass, et. al., and other actions brought to recover damages relating to asbestos-containing materials in buildings owned or operated by the commonwealth, or received as dividend payments by the commonwealth on account of the bankruptcy of any manufacturer, seller, or distributor of asbestos-containing materials in buildings owned or operated by the commonwealth, shall be segregated and deemed to be held in such fund. The secretary of public property shall develop a plan for the orderly expenditure of such sums as are received by the Asbestos Cost Recovery Fund for the purposes of operations and maintenance, encapsulation and removal of asbestos. The plan shall contain provisions for emergencies, the short term and long term control of asbestos in buildings owned or operated by the commonwealth, and the removal and disposition of asbestos-containing materials located in such buildings. All monies deposited in the fund as described herein above may be expended by the secretary of public property without further appropriation, consistent with the purposes of this section. Any balance in the fund at the close of a fiscal year shall be available for expenditure in the subsequent fiscal year, and shall not revert to the General Fund.
Local Contribution for Education - Waivers
Section 46. (a) Upon the request of the selectmen in a town, the city council in a plan E city or the mayor in any other city, the department of revenue may re-calculate the minimum required local contributions, as defined in section two of chapter seventy of the General Laws, in the fiscal year ending on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-seven. Based on the criteria outlined in this section, the department shall recalculate the minimum required local contributions for a municipality's local and regional schools and certify the amounts calculated to the office of education and training.
(b) Any city or town that used qualifying revenue amounts in a fiscal year which will not be available for use in the next year, or that will be required to use revenues for extraordinary non-school related expenses for which it did not have to use revenues in the preceding fiscal year, or that has an excessive certified municipal revenue growth factor which is also greater than or equal to one and one-half times the state average municipal revenue growth factor, may appeal to the department of revenue no later than October first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six for an adjustment of its minimum required local contribution and net school spending.
(c) If the claim is determined to be valid, the department of revenue may reduce proportionately the minimum required local contribution amount based on the amount of shortfall in revenue or based on the amount of increase in extraordinary expenditures in the current fiscal year, but no adjustment to the minimum required local contribution on account of an extraordinary expense raised in the budget of the fiscal year ending on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, shall affect the calculation of the minimum required local contribution in subsequent fiscal years. Qualifying revenue amounts shall include but not be limited to extraordinary amounts of free cash, over lay surplus, and other available funds.
(d) If, upon submission of adequate documentation, the department of revenue determines that the municipality's claim regarding an excessive municipal revenue growth factor is valid, said department shall recalculate said municipal revenue growth factor and the office of education and training shall use this revised growth factor to calculate preliminary local contribution, minimum required local contribution and any other factor that directly or indirectly uses the municipal revenue growth factor. Any relief granted as a result of an excessive municipal-revenue growth factor shall be a permanent reduction in minimum required local contribution.
(e) Upon the request of the selectmen in a town, the city council in a plan E city, or the mayor in any other city, in a majority of the member municipalities, any regional school district which used qualifying revenue amounts in a fiscal year that will not be available for use in the next fiscal year shall appeal to the department of revenue not later than October first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six, for an adjustment to its net school spending requirement. If the claim is determined to be valid, the department of revenue shall reduce the net spending requirement based on the amount of the shortfall in revenue and reduce the minimum required local contribution of member municipalities accordingly. Qualifying revenue amounts shall include but not be limited to extraordinary amounts of excess and deficiency, surplus, and uncommitted reserves.
(f) Any regional school district which received regional school incentive aid in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-five shall, upon the request of the selectmen in a town, the city council in a plan E city, or the mayor in any other city, in a majority of the member municipalities, appeal to the office of education and training for an adjustment in the minimum required local contribution of its member municipalities. The office of education and training may reduce the increased assessment of the member municipalities as a result of the reorganization of the regional school district by using a portion of the regional incentive aid to reduce the prior year local contribution.
(g) If the regional school budget has already been adopted by two-thirds of the member municipalities, then upon a majority vote of the member municipalities the regional school committee shall adjust the assessments of the member municipalities in accordance with the reduction in minimum required local contributions approved by the department of revenue or the office of education and training in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of clause (14) of section three of chapter two hundred fourteen of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the amounts so determined shall be deemed to be the minimum required local contribution described in said chapter seventy; provided, however, that the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on education, arts and humanities shall be notified by the department of revenue and the office of education and training of the amount of any reduction in the minimum required local contribution amount.
(i) In the event that a city or town has an approved budget that exceeds the recalculated minimum required local contribution and net school spending amounts for its local school system or its recalculated minimum required local contribution to its regional school districts as provided by this section, the local appropriating authority shall determine the extent to which the community avails itself of any relief authorized under this section.
(j) The amount of financial assistance due from the commonwealth in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven under chapter seventy or any other provision of law shall not be changed on account of any redetermination of the required minimum local contribution under this section. The department of revenue and the office of education and training shall issue guidelines for their respective duties under this section.
(k) Any city, town or regional school district that has long term debt due to school building construction and is in the first year of receiving School Building Assistance Bureau assistance grant money for a new project may apply for recalculation of the minimum required local contribution to exclude any such first year new grant money from the excess debt service calculation; provided, that eligibility for such recalculation shall not recur in subsequent years.
(l) The office of education and training shall not reduce the required minimum local contribution on account of a municipality or regional school district having received funds from item 7061-0011 of section two of chapter thirty-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and ninety-five.
Tuition Retention Fringe Benefits - University
Section 47. Notwithstanding the provisions of section five D of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven the first eighty-five million seven hundred thirty-three thousand nine hundred eighty dollars in personnel expenditures charged to the university tuition retention trust fund as established in section twelve of this act shall be exempt from fringe benefit charges established by the commissioner of administration in accordance with the provisions of said section five D. Said exemption shall be allocated to the individual university campus accounts established within said trust fund pursuant to a schedule developed by the chief education officer of the commonwealth and approved by said commissioner.
Tuition Retention Fringe Benefits - State Colleges
Section 48. Notwithstanding the provisions of section five D of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven the first thirty-one million six hundred sixty-seven thousand eight hundred forty-six dollars in personnel expenditures charged to the state college tuition retention fund as established in section twelve of this act shall be exempt from fringe benefit charges established by the commissioner of administration in accordance with the provisions of said section five D. Said exemption shall be allocated to the individual state college accounts established within said trust fund pursuant to a schedule developed by the chief education officer of the commonwealth and approved by said commissioner.
Tuition Retention Fringe Benefits - Community Colleges
Section 49. Notwithstanding the provisions of section five D of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven the first nineteen million nine hundred ninety-eight thousand nine hundred ten dollars in personnel expenditures charged to the community college tuition retention fund as established in section twelve of this act shall be exempt from fringe benefit charges established by the commissioner of administration in accordance with the provisions of said section five D. Said exemption shall be allocated to the individual community college accounts established within said trust fund pursuant to a schedule developed by the chief education officer of the commonwealth and approved by said commissioner.
Net School Spending
Section 50. For the purposes of calculating the minimum required local contribution in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven as defined in section two of chapter seventy of the General Laws, the office of education and training shall consider health care costs for retired teachers to be part of net school spending for any town in which said costs were considered part of net school spending in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four. The office shall not consider said retired teachers' health care costs to be part of net school spending for any district in which such costs were not considered part of net school spending in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-four.
County Corrections Maintenance of Effort Trust Fund
Section 51. There shall be established on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Maintenance of Effort Trust Fund for support of county correctional facilities. Said trust fund shall consist of deductions specified herein, as well as any interest or investment earnings on such monies. Notwithstanding the provisions of section three of this act or any general or special law to the contrary, the state treasurer shall deduct from the amounts specified in said section three paid to each city and town an amount of funding equal to each city's and town's share of the fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-six payments made pursuant to the provisions of item 8910-0000 of chapter thirty-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and ninety-five. Said deductions shall be deposited in the Maintenance of Effort Trust Fund and shall be expended for the purposes of supporting county correctional facilities pursuant to the provisions of item 8900-3500 of section two of this act.
Local Police Cadet Training Fee
Section 52. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of public safety is hereby authorized and directed to charge one thousand eight hundred dollars per recruit for training programs approved by the department of law enforcement for recruits of municipal police departments who begin training on or after July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six. The state treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to transfer one thousand eight hundred dollars multiplied by the number of such recruits from the local aid payments of the municipality in which said recruits shall serve. Said transfers shall be semi-annual. The state comptroller shall certify all such transfers to the house and senate committees on ways and means no later than thirty days after completion thereof. Upon completion of training, said one thousand eight hundred dollar charge shall be deducted from the recruit's wages in eighteen equal monthly installments or as otherwise negotiated.
County Correction Employee Health and Pension Contributions
Section 53. The secretary of administration and finance shall determine the costs in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven associated with the health, pension and other employee costs other than salaries, for former county correction employees who shall become employees of the commonwealth during said fiscal year. Said secretary shall certify to the comptroller the amounts of said employee-related costs. The comptroller is hereby authorized to transfer said amounts from item 8900-3500 into item 4910-0330 and the Commonwealth's Pension Liability Fund authorized by section two of this act to pay such costs.
Effective Date
Section 54. Except as otherwise provided in this act, the provisions of this act shall take effect as of July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six.
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