CHARLEMONT — As the state changes the formula for calculating how Chapter 90 funds are allocated, Charlemont is expected to receive $409,223 — a figure Town Administrator Sarah Reynolds said is more than double what the town had been awarded in years past.
This year’s Chapter 90 allocation to the town — funds provided by the state to be used for capital improvements on local public ways — marks an increase of more than $231,771 from fiscal year 2025, the largest year-to-year increase the town has seen in 25 years.
Reynolds explained that Chapter 90 allocations are determined based on a municipality’s population (21%), road mileage (58%) and number of employed residents (21%). As this formula was disadvantageous to rural communities such as Charlemont and Colrain, which have long and vast roads but small populations, state legislators worked to tweak the formula to offer additional funds to these communities.
“[Town officials] ahead of us were advocating for this for years. It was nothing new,” Reynolds said at this week’s Selectboard meeting. “It made a big difference, because it more than doubled just on the first round.”
State Rep. Natalie Blais, who advocated for the allocation of an additional $100 million in Chapter 90 funds to be applied to municipalities’ road mileage calculations, explained in an interview Tuesday that the change in formula came from years of local advocacy from rural communities.
Blais noted that she hopes to continue the additional $100 million road mileage funding in future funding cycles, and added that $80 million in Fair Share Amendment funding, which can be spent on education and transportation, also was put toward road rural roads.
“We were able to secure that additional $80 million that will be distributed — half of it will go toward that traditional formula, and then the other half, $40 million, will go via the local roadway mileage,” Blais said. “These are significant increases for our communities.”
Sunderland, too, saw a significant increase in its Chapter 90 funds, which increased from $179,445 in FY25 to $387,753 in the FY26 funding cycle.
Although Selectboard member Nathaniel Waring said the funds will serve as a “big help” for the town’s Highway Department, he added that the additional Chapter 90 dollars will primarily be used to help the municipality “catch up” with increasing costs. He said the department saw new vehicle prices skyrocket over the last few years.
“The amount of Chapter 90 funding we’ve received has not been keeping up with the costs that our Highway Department faces,” Waring said. “This is going to be a huge help, but it’s not so much more money, as it is catching up.”
Whately saw an increase in its Chapter 90 funds from $143,310 to $316,429 this funding cycle, which Selectboard member Fred Baron said was a much-appreciated gesture.
“There’s no shortage of ways to spend this Chapter 90 money,” Baron said. “We have no shortage of bridges and culverts that need improvements, or roads that need repaving.”
Reynolds, of Charlemont, said prior to the increases, it became common practice for her town and other rural communities to save their annual Chapter 90 allocations over several years to pay for significant roadway infrastructure projects. She explained that if the new formula continues in future years, it would take significant pressure off towns and reduce their need to store away funds year over year.
“A lot of communities are in the same boat as us, where you bank your Chapter 90 money for several years in order to do a project,” Reynolds said. “The price of stuff is only going up, so oftentimes communities hold onto it several years in order to do any sort of meaningful project.”
Blais said that in addition to the Chapter 90 increases, an additional $7 million program for unpaved roads was included in Gov. Maura Healey’s supplemental budget.
According to a 2024 report from the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, 26% (1,627 miles) of Franklin County’s roads are unpaved dirt or gravel roads.
“As a result of what I’ve heard from communities who have a high number of unpaved roadway mileage, when compared to the total roadway mileage, we heard loud and clear that there needed to be additional funding for unpaved roads,” Blais said. “There is a new program for unpaved roads that will be funded at $7 million.”