For Immediate Release: 12/20/2024 2:37 pm
WORCESTER, Mass. – City Manager Eric D. Batista announced Friday the allocation of $10M of unspent Fiscal Year 24 funds, also known as free cash, to benefit the Worcester Public Schools (WPS) and $2.2M of tax relief to residents.
The municipality allocated $7,585,935 of funds to the WPS to support operating and capital expenses to help offset a difficult budget year due to an increase in student population and rising obligations.
The municipality is also allocating $2,448,439 of free cash to the New High School Fund. This appropriation of funds comes as the municipality looks to embark on replacing Burncoat High and Middle Schools and will support the anticipated debt service costs of this project.
“We are happy to allocate funds to the Worcester Public Schools to help with operating and capital expenses and provide funding for the development of new schools,” said Batista. “Investing in our youth is investing in the future of Worcester. This funding aligns with one of my priority goals in my administration’s recently released Strategic Plan – Investment in Quality Education. Superintendent Dr. Rachel Monárrez and I are working closely in collaboration to ensure that we are maintaining the school stock we have now and that we are able to fund the building of new schools to serve our students well into the future.”
The project of replacing the schools is yet to be approved, however, a new loan order was approved by City Council in the amount of $3M to fund the Feasibility Study of this estimated $500M project. The New High School Fund will help the municipality prepare for future debt service costs and reduce the impact of these major capital expenses on future operating budgets.
In addition, the municipality is providing $2.2M of tax relief to residents this year, totaling $3.2M of tax relief the past two years, and a combined unused tax levy capacity of approximately $25M.
