Presentation given to the Mendon-Upton Regional School Committee on January 27, 2014 to explain the state requirements for local contribution to the MURSD Budget and how target local share will affect the FY15 budget and beyond.

1. School Funding Basics:
Required Local Contribution &
Target Local Share
MURSD Regional School Committee
January 27, 2014

2. Target Local Contribution
 Why? Staring in 2007, the State established a
new funding formula… one where a greater
burden for financing PK-12 education would
be on municipalities
 Target Local Contribution: establishes a
goal of how much each municipality should
contribute to PK-12 education, based upon
two factors-
 Aggregate property values
 Aggregate personal income levels
> MRGF

3. State & Local Targets
 Overall goal in MA: municipalities cover 59% of
foundation budget and state aid should cover 41%
 But variations exist based upon wealth of
community…. Ex- low of Lawrence (12.5%) to high
of 82.5% (131 communities, the cap)
Town
Target Contribution
Douglas
48.36 %
Grafton
66.02 %
Hopedale
52.11 %
Hopkinton
82.50 %
Milford
51.41 %
Northbridge
46.62 %

4. Mendon & Upton
Target Contributions
Town
Mendon
Upton
Target
Contribution
66.05 %
62.21 %

5. The Present Gap to
Target Share
• 72 municipalities across the state (29%) are BELOW
their target share. Mendon & Upton are two of those
communities
Town
Target
Actual
% Off
Contribution FY14
Contrib
Mendon
66.05 %
57.26 %
8.79 %
Upton
62.21 %
53.39 %
8.82 %
(State Avg MRGF: 3.76%)

6. The Forced Migration to
Target Share
• If a community is 2.5 - 7.5% below its target, then
an increment of 2% is added to the minimum
local target %
Town
Target
Actual
% Off
Contribution FY14
Contrib
MRGF
FY15
FY15
Target
Mendon
66.05 %
57.26 %
8.79 %
4.16 %
58.36 %
Upton
62.21 %
53.39 %
8.82 %
3.57 %
54.42 %
(State Avg MRGF: 3.76%)

7. Some Important Caveats
 Realize that these percentages DO NOT
correspond with our assessments based upon
student enrollment (For FY15- 43.51%
Mendon, 56.49% Upton)
 Big Driver: Increased BVT Assessment to
Upton ($236,593 for 25 additional students) &
Mendon ($91,074 for 6 additional students)
• Hence, for FY15, Mendon’s share of the
Minimum Local Contribution for the MURSD is
affected more than Upton’s

8. Some Important Caveats
• More LOCAL EFFORT will be
required to get to Target Share &
Required Local Contribution for FY16
and beyond

9. For More Info on School
Budget Basics
Go to the MURSD Superintendent’s Blog:
www.mursd.blogspot.com