The Massachusetts School Building Authority surpassed $10 billion in infrastructure financing since its inception in 2004, Treasurer Steven Grossman announced.
The state legislature created the quasi-independent authority to overhaul the process of funding capital improvement projects in public schools statewide.
“Almost every community in the commonwealth has benefited immensely from this $10 billion investment,” Grossman said in a statement.
“We’ve visited many of these communities and have seen firsthand how modern, state-of-the-art learning environments are better preparing students to compete and flourish in the commonwealth’s innovation economy,” he said.
“The MSBA’s model of collaboration with local school districts has proven to be both effective and sustainable in the long-term.” said the authority’s executive director, Jack McCarthy.
The authority is funded with one penny of the state sales tax for every dollar spent. This dedicated revenue stream allows the agency to reimburse cities and towns on school building projects that have been approved as priorities.
According to Grossman’s office, the authority’s payments to municipalities have saved cities and towns more than $2.9 billion in avoided interest costs.
