FEMA Awards Funds to Massachusetts for COVID School Testing Costs

08:00AM / Saturday, February 10, 2024Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $64 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse it for the cost of contracting to provide testing services in public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $64,144,440 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services for the cost of contracting to provide testing at schools and in public buildings in surrounding communities between February 2021 and June 2022.

The contractor provided services which included operations and logistics of pooled testing, training, software, and technical assistance to school personnel.

The contractor also provided transportation for a total of 907,829 COVID-19 test specimens from approximately 2,400 public schools across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the laboratory for analysis.

"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Massachusetts with these costs," said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. "Reimbursing state, county, and municipal governments – as well as eligible non-profits and tribal entities – for the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation's ongoing recovery."

FEMA's Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

So far, FEMA has provided more than $2.7 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.

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Pittsfield Proposes 2.64 Tax Rate Hike

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:34PM / Tuesday, November 10, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The proposed tax rate for fiscal year 2027 is less than 40 cents per $1,000 valuation for residential properties and would increase the average property tax bill by about $146 per year.

On Tuesday's City Council meeting agenda is a request from the mayor and Board of Assessors to use a residential factor of .8245 at a shift of 1.75, resulting in a residential tax rate of $17.88 and a commercial, industrial, and personal property tax rate of $37.95.

These matters are typically referred to the Committee of the Whole for deliberation. The proposed rates for residential and commercial are 38 cents and $1.05 more, respectively, from FY26.

The average residential home, valued at $316,792 in FY27, has increased by about $1,500 from the previous fiscal year, and would pay $5,664.24 in yearly taxes.

This is a 2.64 percent, or $145.88, increase.

The average commercial property worth $239,600 saw a $100 increase in value from the previous fiscal year, and would pay $9,092.82 in yearly taxes. This is a $255.27, or 2.89 percent, increase from the previous fiscal year.

The FY27 tax levy of $124,468,317 is a $5.3 million increase from the previous year, or 4.45 percent. There is about $388,000 in excess levy capacity, $2.3 million in new growth, and the levy limit is $124,856,412.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, 11 single-family homes were added to Pittsfield's housing stock this fiscal year, increasing the city's total assessed value by $19,987,600 to $3,592,737,600.

The city lost five two-family homes in 2027, and that housing type decreased by $3.2 million in assessed value, now worth $384,620,400.

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