Press Release  Healey-Driscoll Administration Releases First Round of Disaster Relief Funds to Municipalities

Boston — Today, at the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s (MMA) Annual Business Meeting, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll announced that the Healey-Driscoll administration is releasing the first $10 million of disaster relief funding for communities that were damaged by flooding last year. This funding comes from the supplemental budget passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Maura Healey in December.  

Lieutenant Governor Driscoll also announced that the administration is increasing funding for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program by 35 percent. The additional $7 million funding will specifically help communities plan, design and construct nature-based solutions to inland flooding. 

Additionally, the Healey-Driscoll administration is opening applications for the Fiscal Year 2025 Community One Stop for Growth program, through which municipalities can apply for funding through state community and economic development grant programs. 

“Lieutenant Governor Driscoll and I have spent the past year visiting municipalities that suffered catastrophic damage due to severe weather. We knew they needed more support to rebuild, which is why we worked with the Legislature to secure these disaster relief funds,” said Governor Healey. “We’re proud to be delivering the first round of these funds to 37 cities and towns to relieve some of the burden they’ve been facing, and we’re also going to increase support for municipalities in their efforts to reduce the risk of flooding in their communities through the MVP Program.”    

“As the former Mayor of Salem and now as Lieutenant Governor, I know first-hand how crucial collaboration is in tackling the biggest challenges facing our 351 cities and towns,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “That’s why we are proud to offer the Community One Stop for Growth program each year, which reduces red tape and streamlines the process for communities to apply for critical state funding that will improve quality of life for their residents.” 

Flood Relief 

In December, Governor Healey and the Legislature partnered on a supplemental budget that included $15 million for municipalities that experienced damage or incurred emergency response costs from extreme weather over the past year. The administration is now distributing a first round of $10 million to 37 communities. The remaining $5 million will be released later this Spring to support municipalities impacted by September storms. 

The list below detailed the planned award distributions for the first $10 million: 

Climate and Environmental Resilience Funding  

The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) is providing $7 million from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Climate Mitigation Trust for additional Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) action grants to communities impacted by inland flooding in 2023. The funds are in addition to the $20 million allocated for MVP action grants in the FY25 Capital Investment Plan (CIP), representing a 35% increase in MVP action grant funds.  

The action grants will fund nature-based solutions such as the planning, design and construction of green stormwater infrastructure and stream and wetland restoration projects that reduce the risk of flooding. 

There is significant demand for these resources. In December, EEA received the largest response to date to its request for expressions of interest (EOIs) from cities, towns, regional groups and tribes for MVP action grants. The office received 196 EOIs, compared to 155 EOIs received the previous year.  

In addition to this increase in MVP grants, the Executive Office of Administration and Finance (ANF) is releasing the first $10 million dollars of the closeout supplemental budget funding to support municipalities impacted by the July and August storms.  

Community One Stop for Growth 
Launched in January 2021, the Community One Stop for Growth is a streamlined application process that makes it easier for communities and entities to access the state’s numerous community and economic development grant programs. In its first three rounds, the One Stop resulted in 869 grant awards across 243 communities. These awards amounted to over $396.3 million in grant funds – including over $130 million to Gateway Cities and over $100 million to rural and small towns. New this year, the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program will be officially integrated into the One Stop.FY25 applications must be submitted for consideration between May 6 - June 5, 2024. 

   
The One Stop process not only helps to make grants programs more accessible to all communities, but also ensures the equitable distribution of resources across all regions of the Commonwealth. Of the 869 projects awarded to date, 29 percent were located in a community identified as a Rural Town and/or Small Town; 47 percent were located in a Housing Choice Community; and 32 percent were located in a Gateway City.  

 
In addition to the three virtual information sessions hosted each year, each One Stop program manager will record a webinar specific to their respective program. Each webinar will provide an overview of the program, including more specific information about eligibility, project competitiveness, and examples of past awards. All program webinars will be posted to the One Stop website on February 16, 2024.  

New this year, the Executive Office of Economic Development is expanding opportunities available for prospective applicants to receive guidance.   

The Expression of Interest (EOI) is now offered as a short webform, accessed directly through the One Stop website. The new streamlined process allows for both an expedited delivery of EOI feedback and eliminates the limit to the number of projects that an organization can submit. The EOI becomes available February 9 and will remain open through April 30.    

To supplement the guidance received in the EOI process, One Stop staff and program managers will host two separate virtual office hour series to answer applicant questions. One Stop General Guidance Office Hours will be hosted by One Stop staff to answer general process and technology questions. In addition, each program in the One Stop will host a separate, individual program office hour session to allow applicants to ask program staff questions specific to the program.  

For more information on the One Stop and the Full Application, please visit www.mass.gov/onestop. 

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