Massachusetts towns could borrow for climate resilience

Massachusetts is setting up a new state-backed borrowing path for cities, towns, tribal governments and public water and wastewater districts that need money for climate resilience work. The amendment creates a separate, non-budgeted special revenue fund called the Resilience Revolving Fund, instead of a one-time grant pot, and it would also support technical assistance and program management for local projects.

A fund that recycles repayments

The board of the Clean Water Trust would administer the program, giving the state a central manager for the loan pool. Because it is structured as a revolving fund, money paid back into it can be used again, rather than disappearing after one round of awards. The point is to give communities a steadier financing tool when a project is useful but hard to pay for all at once.

Amounts credited to the fund could be used without further appropriation. The sums would remain available through June 30, 2032, which gives the program a longer runway than a single budget year.

More than a checkbook for seawalls

The broader target is climate change adaptation, resiliency and the preservation and improvement of environmental and recreation assets. That can include land acquisition, along with coastal land acquisition, restoration and reclamation work. In other words, the fund is built not just for concrete and pipes, but for projects that protect land and water while reducing climate damage.

Eligible borrowers would not be limited to one kind of local government. Municipalities, tribal governments and public water and wastewater districts could all use the program, and the fund would also cover technical support to help eligible applicants get projects ready to apply.