November 1, 2012
The Honorable Steven Grossman, Treasurer and Receiver-General
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
State House, Room 227
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Treasurer Grossman:
The purpose of this letter is to provide information on FY2012 year-end transfers and payments arising from the calculation of the Consolidated Net Surplus, including statutorily required transfers to the Stabilization Fund and payments to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund, The Health Care Workforce Transformation Fund and the City of New Bedford public schools.
The Commonwealth’s reviewed financial statements – Statutory Basis, for fiscal year 2012, were filed with the Clerks of the Senate and the House Representatives on October 30, 2012.
As of June 30, 2012, the Commonwealth reported a Consolidated Net Surplus of $301,294,000 in the three active budgeted funds included in the surplus calculation (the General Fund, the Commonwealth Transportation Fund and the Massachusetts Tourism Fund). Per Section 41 of Chapter 239 of the Acts of 2012 (the FY2012 final supplemental appropriation act, which superseded Chapter 29, Section 5c(a) of the Massachusetts General Laws), a portion of the Consolidated Net Surplus equal to 0.5% of total tax revenue, or $106,918,000, is to be carried forward to FY2013 in the General Fund. Pursuant to Chapter 239, the balance of the Consolidated Net Surplus is to be distributed as shown below:
| A payment from the General Fund to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center | $15,000,000 |
| A transfer from the General Fund to the Health Care Workforce Transformation Fund | $20,000,000 |
| Distribution of special aid from the General Fund to the City of New Bedford Public Schools | $2,703,119 |
| Remaining amount transferred from the budgeted funds to the Stabilization Fund | $116,673,000 |
In addition, following transfers were required at the year-end to carry forward an additional amount of $40,000,000 in to the General Fund for FY 2013, as required by Chapter 239.
| A transfer from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to the General Fund | $16,212,000 |
| A transfer from the Massachusetts Tourism Fund to the General Fund | $6,045,000 |
The total FY2012 ending balance in the Stabilization Fund was $1.652 billion, an increase of $273 million from the FY2011 ending balance of $1.379 billion. A detailed schedule of the final transfer calculations and all FY2012 year-end Stabilization Fund transfers is attached – see “Calculation of Transfers: Stabilization Fund, June 30, 2012”.
If you have any questions about these calculations, or the reviewed financial statements in general, it would be my pleasure to meet with you.
Respectfully,
Martin J. Benison
Comptroller
Cc:
James MacDonald, Deputy Treasurer
Julia Burns, Director of Accounting
B J Trivedi, Director of Financial Reporting
Howard Merkowitz, Deputy Comptroller
Enclosure
Calculation of Transfer 