Local Aid — General Government Comparison

Posted byWill Brownsberger

The Unrestricted General Government Aid category, which has superseded Additional Assistance and the Lottery program, is a less a program than a list of aid amounts. There is no agreed underlying formula. It was first generated for fiscal 2010 and the Governor has proposed to hold it constant in fiscal 2011.

To some extent, UGGA reflects the old Additional Assistance allocation and to some extent UGGA reflects the old lottery allocation. The old lottery allocation was inversely proportional to property value per capita and so resembled the Chapter 70 allocation. Lottery funding in 2009, the year prior to the transition, was much larger than Additional Assistance funding, so most of the communities which do relatively well on the UGGA list are poorer communities that did well under the lottery allocation. However, a few more affluent communities that did especially well under Additional Assistance appear in the top quarter of UGGA recipients based on UGGA per capita.

NOTE: The wealth index in the chart below is computed as 50% of the ratio of the community’s per capita income to the state average plus 50% of the ratio of the community’s property value per capita to the state average. It has no official significance, but per capita income and per capita property values are the main factors used in the lottery and Chapter 70 formulae.

Click here for a spreadsheet version of the chart below.

Communities with population over 15,000 listed in descending order of Unrestricted General Government Aid per capita.
1 Municipality Unrestricted
General Government Aid per Capita (2010 same as 2011 H2)		 1999
Income per Capita		 Property
Value per Capita		 2008
Estimated US Census		 Property/
Income Wealth Index (100% is state average)
2 SOMERVILLE 293 23628 127042 75662 84%
3 BOSTON 274 23353 173847 609023 97%
4 LAWRENCE 247 13360 59535 70014 44%
5 FALL RIVER 231 16118 79290 90931 55%
6 LYNN 227 17492 87558 86957 60%
7 HOLYOKE 224 15913 59107 39947 48%
8 NEW BEDFORD 222 15602 78149 91365 54%
9 SPRINGFIELD 221 15232 56292 150640 46%
10 LOWELL 214 17557 79008 103615 58%
11 WORCESTER 209 18614 79007 175011 60%
12 AMHERST 209 17427 65272 35565 53%
13 MALDEN 199 22004 109348 55597 75%
14 BROCKTON 198 17163 92758 93007 61%
15 MEDFORD 192 24707 143163 55573 91%
16 FITCHBURG 187 17256 76744 40239 56%
17 CHICOPEE 185 18646 70762 54941 57%
18 SOUTHBRIDGE 184 18514 74254 16852 58%
19 QUINCY 182 26001 140220 92339 92%
20 WATERTOWN 182 33262 183615 32365 119%
21 GARDNER 181 18624 71885 20682 57%
22 CAMBRIDGE 179 31156 247399 105596 134%
23 PITTSFIELD 178 20549 88457 42652 66%
24 CHELSEA 174 14628 68700 41577 49%
25 WINTHROP 170 27374 100409 21880 83%
26 MELROSE 169 30347 147467 26708 103%
27 ARLINGTON 163 34399 184389 40993 122%
28 EVERETT 163 19845 134870 37353 79%
29 GREENFIELD 157 18830 84280 17828 62%
30 EASTHAMPTON 153 21922 93024 16195 70%
31 STONEHAM 153 27599 158852 21471 101%
32 RANDOLPH 152 23413 123335 30082 82%
33 REVERE 151 19698 92545 60204 66%
34 SALEM 147 23857 125268 41256 84%
35 NORWOOD 145 27720 174070 28211 106%
36 WEYMOUTH 144 24976 138702 53261 90%
37 WOBURN 143 26207 172052 36871 102%
38 BRAINTREE 143 28683 172925 35294 107%
39 HAVERHILL 141 23280 109348 61275 78%
40 WALTHAM 140 26364 164919 60236 100%
41 WESTFIELD 137 20600 86458 40608 66%
42 NORTHAMPTON 136 24022 119149 28379 82%
43 FRAMINGHAM 135 27758 147142 64885 98%
44 SOUTH HADLEY 133 22732 94902 17241 72%
45 TAUNTON 133 19899 118835 55702 74%
46 WEBSTER 131 20410 111827 16655 73%
47 BEVERLY 131 28626 162060 39343 104%
48 ROCKLAND 130 23068 121524 17883 81%
49 CHELMSFORD 130 30465 165753 34409 108%
50 NEWBURYPORT 128 34187 219824 17542 132%
51 MARLBOROUGH 126 28723 148391 37932 100%
52 BRIDGEWATER 125 23105 114613 25774 79%
53 READING 124 32888 176506 23052 116%
54 PEABODY 124 24827 154197 51331 94%
55 FAIRHAVEN 123 20986 147868 16112 85%
56 LEOMINSTER 123 21769 105685 41055 74%
57 BILLERICA 123 24953 145586 41844 92%
58 LUDLOW 120 20105 91219 22410 66%
59 WAKEFIELD 120 30369 170166 24717 110%
60 SAUGUS 118 25524 163371 27478 98%
61 ATTLEBORO 117 22660 116089 42833 79%
62 DEDHAM 117 28199 184514 24630 110%
63 GLOUCESTER 116 25595 206462 30243 111%
64 AGAWAM 116 22562 111176 28091 77%
65 WEST SPRINGFIELD 115 20982 102485 27459 71%
66 METHUEN 109 22305 127093 44055 81%
67 MILTON 108 37138 189016 26187 128%
68 NATICK 105 36358 216700 31880 135%
69 STOUGHTON 105 25480 146137 26927 93%
70 DRACUT 105 23750 118193 29501 81%
71 ABINGTON 104 23380 133326 16689 85%
72 AMESBURY 103 24103 136692 16584 87%
73 MIDDLEBOROUGH 103 20246 135694 21117 80%
74 SWANSEA 102 21776 147619 16155 86%
75 BROOKLINE 102 44327 283510 54896 171%
76 HOLDEN 101 27971 137164 16608 95%
77 WILMINGTON 101 25835 181304 21649 104%
78 SCITUATE 99 33940 255218 17926 142%
79 MILFORD 99 23742 139709 27246 88%
80 WALPOLE 97 32117 188275 23133 118%
81 NORTON 95 23876 129709 19186 85%
82 BELLINGHAM 94 25047 163198 15900 97%
83 DANVERS 94 26852 179610 26762 106%
84 AUBURN 93 23802 140358 16222 88%
85 BURLINGTON 92 30732 205671 24985 121%
86 NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH 91 25974 161189 27794 98%
87 NORTH READING 91 30902 164328 17272 109%
88 HUDSON 90 26679 142060 19597 94%
89 CANTON 86 33510 203531 22048 126%
90 BELMONT 85 42485 246136 23291 156%
91 WESTFORD 85 37979 187587 22066 130%
92 EAST LONGMEADOW 83 27659 131434 15332 93%
93 EASTON 83 30732 151921 23209 105%
94 TEWKSBURY 83 27031 152759 29543 98%
95 WAREHAM 82 21312 198695 21221 101%
96 MANSFIELD 82 27441 158945 23969 101%
97 LONGMEADOW 80 38949 149443 15329 120%
98 FOXBOROUGH 80 32294 175632 16347 115%
99 PEMBROKE 79 27066 146924 18714 96%
100 GRAFTON 78 26952 148462 17553 97%
101 MARSHFIELD 77 28768 208562 24735 118%
102 ASHLAND 75 31641 167767 15807 111%
103 SOMERSET 75 22420 160541 18055 91%
104 SHREWSBURY 73 31570 162172 33435 110%
105 SUDBURY 72 53285 262857 17207 182%
106 SHARON 71 41323 178081 17373 133%
107 WESTPORT 70 25281 237145 15417 120%
108 FRANKLIN 68 27849 162018 32148 102%
109 BOURNE 67 22092 258687 19392 120%
110 NORTH ANDOVER 66 34335 178513 27522 120%
111 DARTMOUTH 66 24326 187310 33899 103%
112 NEWTON 63 45708 270534 82139 169%
113 PLYMOUTH 62 23732 190075 55705 103%
114 WINCHESTER 62 50414 272109 21090 179%
115 HINGHAM 62 41703 274386 22561 163%
116 ACTON 59 41901 197241 20797 140%
117 CONCORD 59 51477 330972 17450 199%
118 WESTBOROUGH 55 35063 217742 18467 133%
119 NEEDHAM 54 44549 267424 28560 166%
120 MARBLEHEAD 50 46738 299543 19951 180%
121 SANDWICH 49 26895 237544 20129 123%
122 ANDOVER 47 41133 232128 33418 149%
123 YARMOUTH 47 22731 292089 23778 132%
124 LEXINGTON 45 46119 283559 30272 174%
125 WELLESLEY 42 52866 368138 27244 212%
126 BARNSTABLE 40 25554 349521 46184 154%
127 FALMOUTH 37 27548 396302 33123 172%
128 DENNIS 31 25428 476317 15349 192%
129 STATE AVERAGE 144 25952 166485 100%
130

Published by Will Brownsberger

Will Brownsberger is State Senator from the Second Suffolk and Middlesex District.