Section 28. In order to promote transparency, accountability and equity, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, shall not later than October 31, submit an annual revenue and expenditure report to the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on transportation and the chairpersons of the house and senate committees on ways and means. The report shall also be posted on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s website.

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 6C sec. 28

  • 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.
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.

The annual revenue and expenditure report shall provide a full accounting of the operational and capital revenues received and expended by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the registry of motor vehicles, the aeronautics division and the division of highways and the division of mass transit during the preceding fiscal year ending the preceding June 30, including fiscal activity during the accounts payable period for that fiscal year.

The report shall include, among other information necessary to provide a full accounting, the following information relative to revenues: (i) revenues raised by the various state motor fuels taxes, broken down by category, such as gasoline, special fuels and aviation fuel; (ii) revenues raised through fares, which shall be broken down to reflect fares collected for commuter rail, rapid transit, bus service, water transportation, regional transit service and any other similar fares; (iii) tolls collected, broken down by those collected for travel on the metropolitan highway system, for travel on the turnpike and any other similar tolls; (iv) fees collected by the registry of motor vehicles, which shall be broken down by each specific fee; (v) revenues raised by the portion of the sales tax credited to the Massachusetts Transportation Trust Fund and the Commonwealth Transportation Fund; (vi) assessments deposited into the Massachusetts Transportation Trust Fund and the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, broken down by source; (vii) federal funds received from the Federal Highway Administration, funds received from the Federal Transit Administration and (viii) any other similar federal funds; and any other revenues received by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and any of its divisions including, but not limited to, revenues from parking fares, financial assistance from cities and towns, sponsorships, naming rights and advertising.

To provide a full accounting, the report shall also provide the following information relative to expenditures: expenditures by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and its divisions of highways, division of mass transit, registry of motor vehicles, and aeronautics division, including operating and capital expenditures. In addition to the above-referenced expenditures, the report shall also detail the overall expenditures for commuter rail, rapid transit, water transportation; regional transit services; the statewide road and bridge program, the chapter 90 program, which funds town and county ways; the accelerated bridge program, and any other capital programs administered by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

The report shall include an accounting of debt of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, including those projects and programs for which the debt was incurred, and what revenues have been pledged to repay that debt.

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