Massachusetts School Building Authority

This is a state performance audit of the Massachusetts School Building Authority covering mainly July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2015.

“This report details the audit objectives, scope, and methodology for the audit period, July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2015.”

Auditors reviewed how the authority ran its two grant programs for school districts, including reimbursement rates, repair-project timing, and payments.

“In this performance audit, we examined certain MSBA activities related to its administration of the two grant programs that it uses to provide funding to school districts.”

The authority handles major public money tied to school construction and repairs, including dedicated sales tax revenue.

“Under Section 2 of Chapter 70B of the General Laws, an amount equal to 1% of the state’s 6.25% statewide sales tax is deposited into the School Modernization and Reconstruction Trust Fund held by the State Treasurer and is available to MSBA.”

If your community has eligible school building work, this agency can reimburse part of the cost after the work is completed, up to the approved grant amount.

“Once a school district has completed eligible work, a reimbursement request is made to MSBA, and the school district is reimbursed for no more than the maximum amount of its approved grant award.”

The audit found no problems in the areas it tested: reimbursement calculations, repair-project timeliness, and payment processing.

“Based on our audit, we have concluded that MSBA accurately calculated rates of reimbursement, ensured that projects funded by its ARP were completed in a timely manner, and properly processed payments to school districts.”

The report does not list corrective actions; it says the tested areas met the audit objectives.

“Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended our audit to answer and the conclusion we reached regarding each objective.”

This matters because the authority distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in school-building grants in one year alone.

“In 2015, MSBA provided a total of $732.2 million in grant payments under the two programs.”

MSBA means the Massachusetts School Building Authority; ARP is its faster repair program for specific older building parts like roofs, boilers, windows, and doors.

“To qualify for the Accelerated Repair Program (ARP), a project must involve the repair or replacement of windows/doors, roofs, or boilers that are at least 20 years old; have a total projected cost of more than $250,000; involve a building whose primary purpose is educational; and be for a school that, according to its district, is not overcrowded.”