BOSTON — The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will make sweeping cuts to its environmental and higher-education spending as it deals with a revenue shortfall that may be as much as $1.5 billion, according to Gov. Deval L. Patrick.
The planned cuts ripple across state government, but they include a $187,500 cut in the budget for the Mass. Technology Collaborative; a $2.4 million cut to the Department of Environmental Protection; and the elimination of more than $700,000 in earmarks at the Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Patrick’s office said last week. The administration also is seeking ways to boost revenue, such as a planned change in tax regulations that will require telecommunications companies to pay property taxes on utility poles.
The state’s public colleges were also targeted. The University of Massachusetts system will be hit by nearly $24.9 million in cuts, according to the Executive Office of Education. Bristol Community College’s funding will be cut by $808,820.
Jean F. MacCormack, chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, said his school had been monitoring the budget situation and had already planned midyear budget cuts, including a hiring freeze and possible layoffs. “Because we are already several months into the fiscal year, our options are limited right now,” he said.
MacCormack said the cuts “will require difficult choices in the days and months ahead, but I am confident that our administrators, staff and faculty will once again rise to the challenge, as they have done during prior fiscal difficulties.”
He also said that UMass-Dartmouth is not considering increasing fees or cutting financial aid for students “at this time.”
For more news information from the Mass. Governor’s Office, including a full list of Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s planned spending cuts, visit www.mass.gov.
