Legislative negotiators on Tuesday unveiled a $63.4 billion fiscal year 2027 budget that leans into bolstering municipal finances while launching a broader reexamination of how Massachusetts funds cities, towns and public schools, pairing immediate aid increases with new commissions aimed at reshaping long-term formulas.

Lawmakers are expected to approve the compromise budget Wednesday — the first day of the new fiscal year, making it once again a late budget. It emerged after roughly a month of conference committee negotiations between the House and Senate. Lawmakers approved an interim budget Monday.

If both branches approve the compromise Wednesday as expected, Gov. Maura Healey will have until July 11 to sign, veto or return sections with amendments.

The full text of the compromise budget was not available at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, after the conference jacket was signed. Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues said staffers were working on finalizing the paperwork until 3 a.m. Tuesday, and back in the building before 8 a.m. to complete the work. Healey signed the interim $7.7 billion budget on Tuesday, according to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office.

The spending plan totals about $2.4 billion, or 4%, more than the current budget while avoiding tax or fee increases and preserving the state’s Stabilization Fund. Instead, the budget intends to add another $51 million to reserves, bringing the rainy day account to a projected balance of $8.2 billion.

The House and Senate entered negotiations with budget proposals that differed by roughly $50 million, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

One of the biggest policy negotiations centered on unrestricted local aid.

The Senate proposed increasing Unrestricted General Government Aid by $53 million and distributing the new funding on a per capita basis. The House proposed a $10 million increase.

Negotiators ultimately settled on a $40 million increase, bringing total UGGA funding to $1.363 billion, while retaining the Senate’s proposal to distribute the new money on a per capita basis.

Asked about discussions on that approach, House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz said the conversation will continue in future discussions about local aid. 

“I think it was something we talked about going forward, and something that we’ll probably have to have a further conversation with, from budget to budget. But certainly something to discuss, and we appreciated the conversation that the Senate brought to the table,” he said.

The local aid compromise arrives alongside several efforts to reconsider how Massachusetts finances public education over the long term.

The budget revives the Foundation Budget Review Commission, a 29-member panel charged with examining the state’s K-12 funding formula and recommending updates by October 2028.

Rodrigues said the commission comes after the Legislature completed implementation of the Student Opportunity Act.

“I think it’s time. We fully fulfilled our obligation under the last foundation budget change, the so-called Student Opportunity Act. We completely fulfilled that responsibility. A lot has changed in the close to 10 years that we’ve looked at that change, and it’s time that we update how we distribute Chapter 70 money,” he said.

Michlewitz likewise said lawmakers are entering a new phase of school finance policy.

“Now that the Student Opportunity Act, once the governor signs this budget, once that’s finalized, once that’s implemented through this process, once that will be finally fully implemented, after seven years of discussion, I think it’s now time for us to start a new discussion about how we move forward,” he said. “New issues have arisen since 2019 … but some of the old issues are still there.”

The budget also includes House-backed reforms aimed at improving oversight of special education transportation spending, requiring additional reporting from school districts, creating a centralized transportation database and directing the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to study the transportation marketplace. Districts often cite transportation as a major strain on their budgets.

The compromise also preserves two major House healthcare initiatives.

Negotiators agreed to extend the ConnectorCare expansion program through 2027, continuing what began as a pilot program providing subsidized insurance coverage for residents earning up to 500% of the federal poverty level.

“We’ve been prioritizing that now for a number of years. We know it’s been very successful in helping people gain insurance, affordable insurance, and benefits at lower premiums with no deductibles and reduced copay,” Michlewitz said. “I think that’s going to become even more important as we go into the uncharted territory of how things get implemented on the federal level.”

The budget also requires MassHealth, the Group Insurance Commission and private insurers to cover HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, without cost-sharing requirements or prior authorization.

“We just still know that there is a community out there that has to deal with these issues, and we certainly wanted to kind of create an easier pathway for them to be able to gain the access they need,” Michlewitz said.

Among the notable Senate policy wins included in the final budget is the repeal of the state’s Learnfare policy, which reduced Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits when children accumulated excessive unexcused school absences.

Negotiators also adopted a Senate-backed proposal removing candidates’ home street addresses from publicly available election materials, replacing them with their municipality of residence or ward and precinct. 

The proposal was first introduced by Sen. Becca Rausch of Needham and gained traction after Minnesota state lawmakers were assassinated last year. Rausch argued during budget negotiations that Massachusetts is the only state requiring candidates’ full home addresses to appear on ballots.

The budget also adopts housing permitting reforms intended to streamline local approvals for development on nonconforming properties and modernize variance standards.

Other outside sections include new criminal protections shielding 16- and 17-year-olds from sexual relationships with adults responsible for their care and wrong-way driving prevention measures.

Rodrigues singled out the child protection language as one of the provisions he was especially pleased survived negotiations.

“I just want to highlight another issue, another initiative that’s in the budget,” he said. “There was an amendment filed by Senator [Joan] Lovely protecting children from indecent assault by people in authority. We’re very happy that that survived.”

In total, there are 135 outside policy sections in the budget, most of which are annual policies that must be revived every year, Rodrigues said. 

The compromise budget also adopts a $1,750 annual cap on MassHealth adult dental services, exceeding the $1,000 limit originally proposed by Healey.

“We went to $1,750, which was in both the House and Senate budgets and an increase from what the governor recommended,” Michlewitz said.

Rodrigues said lawmakers were comfortable with the budget’s 4% spending growth because it remained within the state’s available revenues.

“We have the resources to provide that increase without raising taxes or dipping into the rainy day fund,” he said. “It’s within the margins.”

Have you ever wanted to meet the people who work every day to help keep your community safe? Now you and your family have the perfect opportunity!

One of my favorite things about living in New Hampshire is how the community genuinely makes the effort to know one another. Whether its neighbors lending a helping hand, local businesses supporting fundraisers, or first responders showing up for community events, there’s a real sense that we’re all in this together.

Events like Coffee with a Cop are a perfect example of that Granite State spirit!

Coffee with a Cop gives residents the chance to sit down with the dedicated men and women of the Bedford Police Department in a casual setting. Just real conversations over coffee and pastries.

This is a wonderful opportunity for children to meet police officers outside of an emergency situation. Instead of only seeing officers during stressful moments or traffic stops, they get to laugh, ask questions, and learn about the people behind the badge.

As a newer mom, I don’t take for granted the people who work every day to protect the community my child is growing up in.

If you’re looking for a simple way to connect with your neighbors while supporting your local law enforcement, stop by Simply Delicious Bakery on Wednesday, July 15, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Grab a cold drink, enjoy a pastry, and spend a few minutes getting to know the people who work tirelessly to help keep Bedford a safe place to call home.

READ MORE: The Next Great Filmmaker Could Be Premiering Their Work Right Here In New Hampshire

I love highlighting stories like this because they remind us what makes New Hampshire special. It’s not just the beautiful scenery, it’s the people who continue to show up for one another.

New Jersey’s suburban gold rush has no ceiling in sight, and buyers are paying whatever it takes.

Forty-two Euclid Ave in Maplewood hit the market at $1,795,000. It sold for $2,279,000, a staggering 27% above ask. Down the road in South Orange, 376 Melrose Pl listed for $998,999 and closed at $1,332,200, a 33% premium. 

These aren’t outliers. They’re the new normal across a stretch of Essex and Union County suburbs where inventory has all but evaporated and buyers are throwing caution, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the wind.

Maplewood, South Orange and Montclair are leading the charge, with homes across the region averaging double digit percentages over asking price and spending under two weeks on the market before going under contract.

The numbers, according to weekly market data compiled by Mark Slade of Keller Williams Midtown Direct Realty, tell the story clearly. 

Maplewood’s average sale price sits at $1.34 million as of late June, with buyers paying 15.6% over ask. South Orange isn’t far behind at 16.2% over asking with an average sale price topping $1.27 million. Montclair, meanwhile, is running the hottest of the bunch, with buyers paying nearly 25% over list.

Slade, who has tracked these markets since becoming a realtor in 2009, says the upward march has been remarkably steady. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a down-trending year in Maplewood, South Orange or Montclair,” he told The Post, adding that the last several years in particular have brought “dramatic changes in the performance of the market.”

The pandemic supercharged an existing trend, according to Slade, who traces the appeal of these towns back to 1997, two years after Midtown Direct train service began running straight into Penn Station without a transfer in Hoboken. 

“That’s when we started to see some movement, some significant movement and attraction to the area,” he said.

Slade has a name for what’s happening now. He calls it “value convergence equilibrium” —  a theory built on the idea that Northern New Jersey buyers are catching up to what Westchester and Long Island commuters have paid for decades. 

“What we now see is that more and more people as buyers, are recognizing that with their economics, they can afford more house for less money in Northern New Jersey,” he said.

The buyers driving this frenzy aren’t only fleeing Manhattan. Slade says most are also coming from Brooklyn, Hoboken and Queens, current apartment dwellers looking to trade up. 

“Northern New Jersey offers some of the best values as much as it may seem crazy for someone like me watching these prices grow by leaps and bounds,” he said. “It’s still a better value if you’re looking for a 45 minute and under commute to the city.”

Basic economics explains the rest. Supply simply hasn’t kept pace. Slade points to Maplewood specifically, a town of 25,000 residents with more than 5,500 single family homes, yet only a couple dozen actively listed at any given time. 

“I mean, that’s just ridiculous,” he said. He tracks a metric he calls a “hypermarket,” where the number of homes under contract nearly doubles the number of active listings, a ratio he considers more telling than the traditional six month absorption rate used across the industry.

The demand has changed the character of these towns, longtime residents complain. 

Slade says he’s heard grumbling that the small town feel is being “supplanted by more New York, impatient, higher end buyers.” 

He offered an only half joking anecdote about downtown Maplewood’s diagonal parking spots, where illegal U-turns into spaces happen constantly despite signage every 30 feet. 

“I think that today’s buyers are much more affluent,” he said. “They’re even more time pressed, so to speak, which is why they’re choosing these areas to live for the more manageable commutes.”

Township meetings haven’t been immune to the anxiety. After a record breaking sale in Maplewood’s Hilton neighborhood last year, Slade recalls committee members raising concerns at the next public meeting about what runaway prices mean for longtime residents. Still, he sees the appreciation as a feature, not a bug, of homeownership.

“This is real estate,” he said. “This is what real estate is all about.”

Momentum tends to soften slightly as the year goes on, Slade says, a seasonal pattern he attributes half jokingly to what he calls “bonus baby syndrome,” when buyers flush with year end bonuses resolve to finally buy a house “so we don’t have to trip over the stroller.”

When buyers get priced out of one town, they simply move to the next rung down. 

Montclair shoppers frustrated by bidding wars often land in Maplewood. Maplewood buyers priced out end up in West Orange, where the year to date average sits at $763,000 with a 10.7% premium over ask, or Union, averaging around $600,000.

Bidding wars, meanwhile, have become simply expected. 

“Bidding wars are very much part of the current market scenario, given the limited number of homes for sale and the fact that the amount of buyers far outweighs the supply,” Slade said. 

“Buyer’s should generally expect some type of bidding war.” 

He uses an ice cream metaphor to describe buyer psychology, borrowed from a Cold Stone Creamery portion chart. 

“There are three sizes of ice cream at Cold Stone Creamary, Like It, Love it and Gotta Have It!,” he said. “So, if a buyer is in the Gotta Have It mode, their offer could likely blow everyone else away.”

Homes that have recently traded well above ask include 8 Colony Dr in West Orange, which sold for $1,178,000 against an $865,000 list, a 36% jump, and 35 Porter Pl in Montclair, which closed at $1,525,000 on a $1,395,000 ask, pricing out at 30% higher per square foot than the town average.

Whether this run has a natural endpoint is another matter. Slade doesn’t see one coming, short of the state “building a wall around Manhattan.”

New Jersey remains the most densely populated state in the country, meaning new construction is largely limited to developers subdividing larger lots rather than building fresh inventory from scratch. 

Relief in the form of significantly lower mortgage rates also seems unlikely anytime soon, Slade says, leaving buyers to keep competing for a shrinking pool of homes in towns that offer what he still considers, even amid the chaos, the better deal.