The private group preparing to take over management of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is going to have a lot less state money to do its job.
Legislation passed earlier this year called for as much as $7.5 million in state funding for the Greenway Conservancy — $2 million this fiscal year and up to $5.5 million in fiscal 2010. State officials now project that only about $1.5 million will be available in fiscal 2010.
Klark Jessen, a spokesman for the state's Executive Office of Transportation, said the $2 million was contingent on the state running a signficant surplus this year, which is not going to happen.
Jessen said the legislation also promised to match state funds with private donations to the Conservancy, up to a maxiumum of $5.5 million, in 2010 and each year thereafter through 2012. Jessen said those funds were to be drawn from interest on the Central Artery and Statewide Road and Bridge Infrastructure Fund. He said projections now indicate only $1.5 million will be available from the fund.
"That's a projection only, but that's our projection," said Jessen.
Officials at the Greenway Conservancy, which held a public meeting today, indicated that negotiations over the $5.5 million were still ongoing but that they expected to receive the $2 million by the end of the month. The officials couldn't be reached for comment after the disclosure by state officials that the $2 million will not become available.
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About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
Nancy Brennan, executive director of the Conservancy, said at the group's meeting that a lease transferring management of the Greenway from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to the conservancy is still in draft form and will likely be signed by the end of the year. Gov. Deval Patrick has called for the elimination of the Turnpike Authority and a parceling out of its responsibilities and debts to other state authorities and agencies.
In its summer issue, CommonWealth magazine reported that the annual tab for upkeep of the Greenway was expected to be $3.2 million, which would make it one of the most expensive parks in the nation to maintain. The total budget of the Greenway Conservancy was forecasted at $8.6 million, with half coming from the state. If less state money is available, the Conservancy will presumably have to either raise more money from private donors or slash its spending.
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