Massachusetts General Laws ch. 44B sec. 10 – Annual distributions of monies in trust fund
Section 10. (a) The commissioner of revenue shall annually on or before November 15 disburse monies from the fund established in section 9 to a city or town that has accepted sections 3 to 7, inclusive, and notified the commissioner of its acceptance. The community shall notify the commissioner of the date and terms on which the voters accepted said sections 3 to 7, inclusive. The municipal tax collecting authority shall certify to the commissioner the amount the city or town has raised through June 30 by imposing a surcharge on its real property levy and shall certify the percentage of the surcharge applied. In the event a city or town accepts said sections 3 to 7, inclusive, pursuant to subsection (b1/2) of section 3 the municipal tax collecting authority shall certify to the commissioner by October 30, the maximum additional funds the city or town intends to transfer to the Community Preservation Fund from allowable municipal sources for the following fiscal year. Once certified, the city or town may choose to transfer less than the certified amount during the following fiscal year.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 44B sec. 10
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
(b) The commissioner shall multiply the amount remaining in the fund after any disbursements for operating and administrative expenses pursuant to subsection (c) of section 9 by 80 per cent. This amount distributed in the first round distribution shall be known as the match distribution. The first round total shall be distributed to each city or town accepting said sections 3 to 7, inclusive, in an amount not less than 5 per cent but not greater than 100 per cent of the total amount raised by the additional surcharge on real property by each city or town and, if applicable, the additional funds committed from allowable municipal sources pursuant to subsection (b1/2) of section 3. The percentage shall be the same for each city and town and shall be determined by the commissioner annually in a manner that distributes the maximum amount available to each participating city or town.
(c) The commissioner shall further divide the remaining 20 per cent of the fund in a second round distribution, known as the equity distribution. The commissioner shall determine the equity distribution in several steps. The first step shall be to divide the remaining 20 per cent of the fund by the number of cities and towns that have accepted said sections 3 to 7, inclusive. This dividend shall be known as the base figure for equity distribution. This base figure shall be determined solely for purposes of performing the calculation for equity distribution and shall not be added to the amount received by a participant.
(d) Each city and town in the commonwealth shall be assigned a community preservation rank for purposes of the equity distribution. The commissioner shall determine each community’s rank by first determining the city or town’s equalized property valuation per capita ranking, ranking cities and towns from highest to lowest valuation. The commissioner shall also determine the population of each city or town and rank each from largest to smallest in population. The commissioner shall add each equalized property valuation rank and population rank, and divide the sum by 2. The dividend shall be the community preservation raw score for that city or town.
(e) The commissioner shall then order each city or town by community preservation raw score, from the lowest raw score to the highest raw score. This order shall be the community preservation rank for each city or town. If more than 1 city or town has the same community preservation raw score, the city or town with the higher equalized valuation rank shall receive the higher community preservation rank.
(f) After determining the community preservation rank for each city and town, the commissioner shall divide all cities or towns into deciles according to their community preservation ranking, with approximately the same number of cities and towns in each decile, and the cities or towns with the highest community preservation rank shall be placed in the lowest decile category, starting with decile 10. Percentages shall be assigned to each decile as follows:
After assigning each city and town to a decile according to their community preservation rank, the commissioner shall multiply the percentage assigned to that decile by the base figure to determine the second round equity distribution for each participant.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the total state contribution for each city and town shall not exceed the actual amount raised by the city or town’s surcharge on its real property levy and, if applicable, additional funds committed from allowable municipal sources pursuant to subsection (b1/2) of section 3.
(h) When there are monies remaining in the Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund after the first and second round distributions and any necessary administrative expenses have been paid in accordance with section 9, the commissioner may conduct a third round surplus distribution. Any remaining surplus in the fund may be distributed by dividing the amount of the surplus by the number of cities and towns that have accepted sections 3 to 7, inclusive. The resulting dividend shall be the surplus base figure. The commissioner shall then use the decile categories and percentages as defined in this section to determine a surplus equity distribution for each participant.
(i) The commissioner shall determine each participant’s total state grant by adding the amount received in the first round distribution with the amounts received in any later round of distributions, with the exception of a city or town that has already received a grant equal to 100 per cent of the amount the community raised by its surcharge on its real property levy.
(1) Only those cities and towns that adopt the maximum surcharge pursuant to subsection (b) of section 3 and those cities and towns that adopt the maximum surcharge and additional funds committed from allowable municipal sources such that the total funds are the equivalent of 3 per cent of the real estate tax levy against real property pursuant to subsection (b1/2) of said section 3 shall be eligible to receive additional state monies through the equity and surplus distributions.
(2) If less than 10 per cent of the cities and towns have accepted sections 3 to 7, inclusive, and imposed and collected a surcharge on their real property levy, the commissioner may calculate the state grant with only 1 round of distributions or in any other equitable manner.
(j) After distributing the Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund in accordance with this section, the commissioner shall keep any remaining funds in the trust for distribution in the following year.