Administration Announces $2.25 Million in CIC Grants

BOSTON – Tuesday, February 12, 2013 – Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor today announced the 27 recipients of the $2.25 million Community Innovation Challenge (CIC) grant program to incentivize and support innovative regionalization and other cost saving initiatives. These programs will change the way local governments do business to maintain service delivery and stretch every tax payer dollar as far as possible.

The 27 recipients of the FY 2013 CIC grant program span 162 cities and towns. The project recipients reflect geographic and income diversity across the Commonwealth, including several Gateway Cities.

“The first round of the Community Innovation Challenge Grant program was a success, attracting wide interest by municipalities and planning agencies to develop regionalization and innovation strategies on the local level,” said Lieutenant Governor Murray.  “We’re excited to continue this program with the second round of award recipients who have all proposed more innovative opportunities and cost-saving measures to collaborate, regionalize and maintain valuable local services.”

“Our new fiscal reality demands that government change the way it does business to stretch every taxpayer dollar as far as possible,” said Secretary Shor. “The Patrick-Murray Administration’s CIC grant program is just one of the many ways we are working to give cities and towns the tools they need to drive change in local government. I am excited that the second round of this program will provide for the continuation and expansion of some really great programs and jump-start brand new ones.”

Regionalization is an opportunity for neighboring communities to build partnerships to engage in shared services, inter-municipal agreements, municipal collaborations, consolidations, mutual aid and regional planning to reduce the risk of duplicating efforts and unnecessary spending of limited taxpayer dollars. With 351 cities and towns spanning the Commonwealth, there are countless ways to collaborate and work together to maintain important local services and deliver those services effectively and efficiently.

The CIC grant program is one more example of the kind of reforms the Patrick-Murray Administration has made in challenging fiscal times to make government more effective and efficient. CICG provides incentives, such as technical assistance, training and other one-time or transition funding for municipal leaders to work together to pursue innovative ways to deliver critical services to taxpayers more efficiently. Ideal projects for the grant program include those with the potential for greatest impact, high levels of innovation and substantial potential cost savings for municipalities.

“I commend the Patrick-Murray Administration for their continued support in securing funds for the Community Innovation Challenge Grant Program,” said House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. “As the cities and towns across the Commonwealth begin to emerge from this economic downturn, it remains important that state leaders continue to find ways to make government more effective and efficient.”

In the FY 2012 budget, Governor Patrick authorized the development of a competitive grant program to encourage and incentivize regionalization based upon the belief that the most crucial and visible interactions between government and citizen occur locally. A grant program was proposed in the Governor’s budget, and supported by the Legislature, providing $4 million for regionalization and other initiatives that will improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of local services. In FY 2012, the Patrick-Murray Administration invested in 27 projects across the Commonwealth. These projects involved 138 cities and towns and are currently being finished. The results and outcomes of each project will be shared with the general public this summer on the ANF website.

FY 2013 Community Innovation Challenge Grant Recipients:

Education

Creating in District Programs for Students with Severe Emotional and Behavioral Disorders ($110,800)
School districts of the towns of Agawam, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Ludlow, and West Springfield; Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District; Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District

Berkshire County Curriculum Frameworks Project ($89,520)
Central Berkshire Regional School District (Lead); Adams-Cheshire Regional School District; Berkshire Hills Regional School District; Northern Berkshire Vocational Technical School District; Southern Berkshire Regional School District; The public school districts of the towns of Clarksburg, Florida, Savoy, Lee, and Lenox

Expanding Regional Services for Students with Dyslexia ($73,000)
Manchester-Essex Regional School District

Regionalizing Technology Support Services ($52,037)
School districts of the Towns of Richmond (Lead), Hancock, and New Ashford

School StatNet Pilot ($38,326)
Cities of Somerville (Lead), Fitchburg, Revere, and Chicopee

Financial Services

Regionalization of Assessment Services ($35,000)
Towns of Amherst (Lead) and Pelham

Public Health

Public Health Nursing Program, Year 2 ($54,840)
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (Lead); City of North Adams; Towns of Adams, Alford, Becket, Clarksburg, Dalton, Charlemont, Great Barrington, Hancock, Lanesborough, Mt. Washington, New Marlborough, Peru, Richmond, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown, Windsor

Local Boards of Health On-Line Tobacco Retailer Certification Program ($25,250)
Towns of Lee (Lead), Lenox, and Stockbridge

Cooperative Public Health Service ($68,317)
Franklin Regional Council of Governments (Lead); Towns of Buckland, Charlemont, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Leyden, Shelburne

Hampden County Health Alliance ($45,000)
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (Lead); Cities of Holyoke and Springfield; Towns of Westfield, West Springfield, Blandford, Granville, Ludlow, Palmer, and Southwick

Public Works and Environmental Affairs

Regional Highway Equipment Cooperative- Phase 2 ($24,500)
Towns of Brookfield (Lead), Brimfield, East Brookfield, Hardwick, Warren, and West Brookfield

Northern Middlesex Storm Water Collaborative ($98,000)
Northern Middlsex Council of Governments (Lead); City of Lowell; Towns of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford

Cape Cod Great White Shark Research and Outreach Program ($50,000)
Towns of Orleans (Lead); Chatham, Truro, Nantucket, Harwich, Yarmouth, Dennis, Wellfleet, Provincetown, Brewster, and Barnstable

Regionalizing Municipal Storm Water Management in Central Massachusetts ($115,000)

Towns of Spencer (Lead), Auburn, Charlton, Dudley, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Oxford, Paxton, Shrewsbury, Spencer, Sturbridge, Webster, West Boylston, Boylston, Grafton, Hardwick, Monson, New Braintree, Northbridge, Northborough, North Brookfield, Palmer, Princeton, Rutland, Southbridge, Sterling, Upton, Ware, Westborough, Wilbraham

Regional Department of Public Facilities and Infrastructure ($30,000)
Towns of Wenham (Lead) and Hamilton; Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District

Information Technology

Central Massachusetts Regional Electronic Permitting Collaborative ($112,000)
Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) (Lead); Towns of Barre, Blackstone, Boylston, Dudley, Hardwick, Leicester, Northbridge, Spencer, and Upton

Hampshire Cloud ($80,000)
Hampshire Council of Governments (Lead); Towns of Chesterfield and Hadley

See additional Grants