By Christine Rasmussen
Roads and Bridges
Chapter 90, created in 1973 by the legislature, is a state-funded reimbursement bond program to fund roads and bridges. After years of rural governments lobbying for changes in the program to recognize their unique needs for additional funds, because the reimbursement formula did not account for the miles of roads that rural communities must maintain due to a lack of transportation infrastructure, like the T that serves metro Boston, Governor Maura Healey heard us! This year, the legislature approved legislation she filed authorizing $1.5 billion in bonding for the Chapter 90 program over five years, which will raise the amount of money distributed each year and give cities and towns the multi-year commitment they have long been unable to secure from the Legislature. Additionally, $200 million per year — the same annual funding level that has been in place for most of the past decade and a half — will continue to be distributed according to a formula that takes into account roadway mileage, population, and employment. However, an extra $100 million is being allocated based solely on road mileage, effectively giving greater priority to more rural communities with long stretches of roadways.
“We know that municipalities rely on the Chapter 90 program to fund critical improvements to their roads and bridges,” Healey said in a statement. “Under our bill, and with this new, mileage-based formula, every single city and town — including our small towns and rural communities — will see a significant increase in Chapter 90 funding. This means that local officials can put these dollars to work easing congestion, strengthening resilience, and improving safety and quality of life for all of their residents.” She continued that dozens of cities and towns in central and western Massachusetts will see a 75% to 90% increase in combined Chapter 90 funding.
Stockbridge is fortunate to have an administration and highway department that does an excellent job managing our roads/bridges, and now with this 90% increase in funding to $429,779.82, over the next year, one should expect to see wish list projects move to shovels in the ground.
Energy Costs Are Rising
Utilities requested $29 billion in rate increases during the first half of 2025—more than double the amount from the same period last year. Several factors contribute to these rising costs, including investments in aging infrastructure, higher natural gas prices, and the most significant driver, extreme weather events disrupting service and requiring costly repairs to the poles and wires that transport power to homes and businesses. Unfortunately, this situation is expected to worsen due to increasing power demand, shifting energy policies, and the demand for energy-intensive data centers for AI operations.
Simultaneously, the new administration’s policies are jeopardizing the clean energy transition. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed in July, is set to eliminate federal tax credits that incentivize solar and wind development, which are typically cheaper to build than fossil fuel plants. Plus, they are tightening the Treasury rules, making it harder for wind and solar projects to access remaining tax credits.
The deadlines for the federal program incentives require systems to be installed and operational by December 31 to qualify under the current program. So now is the time to act if you are considering upgrades. See IRS 25D Details.
