TBF Housing Resource Library  Special Reports Chapter 40R School Cost Analysis and Proposed Smart Growth School Cost Insurance Supplement.  Click the cover to download a pdf copy of this report containing recommendations from the Commonwealth Housing Task Force. "Building Our Heritage: A Housing Strategy for Smart Growth and Economic Development," Nov. 2003.  Click the cover to learn more about the report or download a copy. Report Cards The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2002 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2003 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2004 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2005 - 2006 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2006 - 2007 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2008 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2009 Slide Presentations The 2002 Housing Report Card The 2003 Housing Report Card The 2004 Housing Report Card The 2005 - 2006 Housing Report Card The 2006 - 2007 Housing Report Card The 2008 Housing Report Card The 2009 Housing Report Card

 

School Cost Analysis
Chapter 40S

Read Chapter 40S as enacted by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.

Click cover to download a pdf of School Cost Analysis and Proposed Smart Growth School Cost Insurance Supplement (Chapter 40S).

Chapter 40S provides a "school cost insurance policy" for local communities passing Chapter 40R districts, indemnifying them against school costs that exceed the amounts available from increased property and excise tax revenue generated by new housing units in smart growth districts. Chapter 40R, as enacted, asked that a study be conducted to determine the projected effect of housing construction upon local school costs.  At the request of the Commonwealth Housing Task Force (CHTF), the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University under the authorship of Ted Carman, Eleanor White and Barry Bluestone, analyzed the issue in detail and prepared the report Chapter 40R School Cost Analysis and Proposed Smart Growth School Cost Insurance Supplement.  The study confirms that school costs relating to new single-family homes in the $250,000 to $300,000 range represent a significant financial issue for communities.  But it also showed that the costs of holding these communities harmless are modest and easily absorbed. Using conservative estimates, the study suggests that, if the CHTF goal of constructing 33,000 new housing units is achieved over the next ten years, the full implementation of a school cost "insurance policy" (Chapter 40S) would cost nothing until 2008 and only $35 million in the tenth year, or less than eight-tenths of one percent of the projected Chapter 70 school funding budget that year.

Read more about the passage of 40S in the CHTF Quarterly Report for December 31, 2005.

Boston Foundation Press Release

Report Shows Town-by-Town Impact of New Housing on School Costs, June 28, 2005