May 19, 2023
Senate budget would save taxpayers $7.2 million on Nauset Regional High School rebuild
Proposal seeks to increase Massachusetts School Building Authority funding by $100 million to address construction cost spikes
BOSTON – The Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget proposed by the Massachusetts Senate contains a provision to boost funding for supplemental grants to school building projects impacted by unanticipated cost escalations. Under the budget proposal released by the Senate Committee on Ways & Means last week, the FY24 budget would expand funding to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to help close unanticipated funding gaps in school building projects. The increased funding would bring an additional $7.2 million to the Nauset Regional High School (NRHS) project, totaling over $43 million in state subsidy for the renovation.
May 19, 2023
Senate budget would save taxpayers $7.2 million on Nauset Regional High School rebuild
Proposal seeks to increase Massachusetts School Building Authority funding by $100 million to address construction cost spikes
BOSTON – The Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget proposed by the Massachusetts Senate contains a provision to boost funding for supplemental grants to school building projects impacted by unanticipated cost escalations. Under the budget proposal released by the Senate Committee on Ways & Means last week, the FY24 budget would expand funding to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to help close unanticipated funding gaps in school building projects. The increased funding would bring an additional $7.2 million to the Nauset Regional High School (NRHS) project, totaling over $43 million in state subsidy for the renovation.
“Nauset has spent years planning and investing in our students and their future via the Nauset Regional High School rebuild project, and taxpayers in the district’s four towns have generously supported this effort twice.” said state Senator Julian Cyr (D—Truro). “Nauset is facing an unexpected and substantial jump in construction costs that place an extra burden on taxpayers. I’m proud that my Senate colleagues are eager to help school districts like Nauset, and these additional dollars will benefit Lower and Outer Cape students for decades to come.”
The NRHS project will rebuild, renovate, and improve the high school’s aging, 50-year-old campus. The campus currently presents accessibility challenges, security limitations, and inadequate facilities.
“The Citizens of the Nauset School Region would like to thank our state representatives for understanding the challenges the pandemic had on the cost of the construction of our new High School,” said Nauset Regional School Committee Chair Chris Easley. “We greatly appreciate them listening and working to provide financial relief. It is very heartening when our political system works. In particular, we would like to thank Senator Cry for all his and his staff's efforts towards securing this funding that provides relief to our local taxpayers.”
School building projects across the Commonwealth are seeing inflated price tags on long-planned construction due to pandemic-related delays and increased building material costs. The
NRHS project’s construction was originally budgeted at $104.9 million in 2019 and the project was approved by voters in March 2021 by the four towns that comprise the regional school district, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, and Brewster. Voters overwhelmingly gave approval to pay the additional costs for the Nauset Regional High School at the ballot in January 2023, agreeing to fund up to an additional $38 million that is now needed for the project. The project’s construction cost is now priced at $134.4 million, nearly a $30 million increase.
"We appreciate the ongoing efforts of the Senate members, particularly Senator Cyr, for the proposed provision in their FY 24 Budget which provides for additional support to school districts, such as Nauset, who are experiencing exponentially high construction costs, post-pandemic, with ongoing building projects,” said Nauset Public Schools Superintendent Brooke Clenchy. “Should this budget provision pass, it will be an incredible boost to our four communities, who have consistently supported this badly needed NRHS renovation."
The Senate’s FY24 budget proposes allocating $100 million to MSBA for supplemental grants for school construction projects that have previously been approved for financing and have been impacted by construction cost spikes. The Senate’s budget would raise the ceiling of grants approved by MSBA each year from $800 million to $1.2 billion. The supplemental funding distributed to school districts would not be calculated as part of the MSBA’s current $800 million limit.
MSBA is anticipated to contribute $36 million to the NRHS rebuild project under the existing agreement. If the MSBA increase of $100 million is sustained in the final conferenced FY24 budget, it would result in an additional grant of $7.2 million for the NRHS project, saving taxpayers substantial money in the four towns that comprise the regional school district.
The Senate will debate its budget next week, and the House and Senate will then reconcile and finalize the FY24 budget in a conference committee prior to the start of the new fiscal year in July.
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