Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

Administration and Finance Committee Meeting

May 29, 2025, Meeting

9:30 AM—10:30 AM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Brain Kane, Chair, representing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Advisory Board

Decisions

The Administration and Finance (A&F) Committee of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) agreed to the following:

• Approve the minutes of the meeting of March 27, 2025
• Approve sending the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026 proposed operating budget for Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS), the staff to the MPO, to the full MPO board

Materials

Materials for this meeting included the following:

1.     March 27, 2025, meeting mintues (pdf) (html)

2.     SFY 2026 Revenue Projections (pdf) (html)

3.     SFY 2026 Operating Budget for CTPS memo (pdf) (html)

Meeting Agenda

1.    Introductions

See attendance on page 7.

2.    Public Comments 

There were none.

 

 

3.    Action Item: Approval of March 27, 2025, Meeting Minutes—Brian Kane, Chair

Vote

A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of March 27, 2025, was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (Eric Bourassa) and seconded by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Lenard Diggins). The motion carried.

4.    SFY 2025 Operating Budget Update: Quarter Three — Hiral Gandhi and Silva Ayvazyan, MPO Staff

S. Ayvazyan presented the details of the SFY 2025 operating budget for CTPS in Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2.

Table 1
State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025 Operating Budget by Quarter

SFY 2025	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Total through Quarter 3
Revenue	$1,965,760	$2,023,980	$1,999,858	$5,989,598
Expenses	$1,936,470	$2,044,910	$1,982,683	$5,964,063
Surplus/Deficit	$29,290	($20,930)	$17,175	$25,535
Overhead	116.86%	123.25%	118.69%	119.60%

 

 

 

Figure 1
State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025 Revenue Through Quarter Three

 

Figure 2
State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025 Expenses Through Quarter Three

 

SFY 2025 Revenue, Expenses, and Overhead Rate

As shown in Table 1, the finances for Quarter 3 of the state fiscal year are on target and have resulted in a surplus of about $17,000. A few key factors caused this result: The hiring of two managers and two planners. This also caused additional overhead.

Some additional staff time was dedicated to a website redesign initiative. As of March 27, 2025, a consultant is working on the MPO’s website.

Expenses increased due to staff engagement events. A line item has been included in the SFY 2026 budget for staff engagement, as 2025 is the pilot year for a new staff engagement initiative.

As shown in Figure 1, MPO and MassDOT-directed revenue has reached  87 percent of the target for Quarter 3, but an increase in spending is expected for future quarters. Statewide planning and research (SPR) revenue has reached 50 percent of the target, which is expected as resources are allocated throughout the year. The “MassDOT other” category, including the On-Call Multimodal project, has reached about 60 percent of its target. A new grant has allowed for a larger projection for this category. The project should be finished within the next few quarters. The MBTA revenues have met the initial expectations. In the “Other” category, spending surpassed the initial target; this supports the Vision Zero action plan and two new grants (Mobility, Access, and Transportation Insecurity [MATI] and Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness [MVP]).

Administrative expenses have reached 90 percent of the target. Direct labor has reached 91 percent of the target; this reveals consistency across all contracts within the agency. Direct costs have reached  87 percent of the target. This category saw an uptick in expenses because of the Vision Zero plan and MATI and MVP grants. 

SFY 2025 Year-End Projections

There is a variance in revenue for the projected year-end budget because of the timing of the contracts. Various grants arrived later than expected, which led to lower expenses overall. There is an expense discrepancy because of staff count, direct labor, and agency expenses. Overhead is projected to be higher than approved, but this is not reason for concern because of revenue and expense variances. 

5.    Action Item: SFY 2026 Proposed Operating Budget—Tegin Teich, Executive Director, and Hiral Gandhi, MPO Staff

T. Teich provided context for the SFY 2026 proposed operating budget for CTPS. The budget has been developed with the uncertainty of federal funding in mind. It is rather conservative, assuming that additional Safe Streets and Roads funding would not be acquired after June 30, 2025. Discretionary grants are now called Competitive grants. Ultimately, the budget includes a higher overhead than in previous years.

H. Gandhi stated that the budget will cover the period between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026.

SFY 2026 Revenue and Expenses 

The total projected revenue is estimated to be about $8.2 million; this amount is $300,000 less than in 2025. Expenses, including administration, direct costs, and direct labor, will consist of 80 percent of the budget. Funding is based upon the federal fiscal year (from October through September). Ninety percent of expenses are spent on salary and overhead. Additional funding will come from MBTA and MassDOT contracts, along with the MATI and MVP grants.

The budget allows for 60 full-time professional staff members, along with part-time employees, and the merit program for salary increases. Extra expenses are being devoted to more staff because of understaffing in 2025.

SFY 2026 Direct Costs

Direct costs are project specific expenses, funded by contracts. They do not affect overhead. These costs include $66,500 devoted to IT equipment: approximately $20,000 is for network switch replacement and $46,500 is for power distribution. Other costs include $400,000 for the MVP grant work and $5,000 for the MATI grant. The amount of $246,000 is going towards TDM27 model development, mobility planning, and completing 2025 efforts (FTA stops model, website redesign, etc.). And $45,000 is being devoted to the data-recording subscription, air quality monitoring, engagement activities, and catering. Lastly, $5,000 will be used for unexpected, extraneous costs.

SFY 2026 Administration Expenses

In SFY 2026, $4 million of the budget will go to group collaboration, resource planning, budget maintenance, strategic planning activities, and human resources-related functions.

SFY 2026 Notable Changes

Expenses for the short-term disability insurance will increase due to a change in provider. This will be cheaper in the long run because of less overall CTPS benefit pay outs (CTPS will pay 40 percent while the insurance company will pay 60 percent). Expenses for office maintenance and rent have decreased due to uncertainty about moving the office. Recruitment expenses will decrease because outside recruiting firms will not be used and this effort in 2025 was ultimately futile. Legal expenses will remain the same. In 2025, legal expenses exceeded budget due to immigration documentation needs. Expenses for a renewed payment plan will decrease as the 2025 work was much more comprehensive.

SFY 2026 the Overhead Rate

The overhead rate, or administration costs/direct labor, has increased compared to 2025. This is due to a lack of discretionary grants.

Vote

A motion to approve sending the SFY 2026 proposed operating budget to the full MPO board was made by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Lenard Diggins) and seconded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) (Chris Klem). The motion carried.

6.    Members Items

There were none.

7.    Next Meeting

Likely in August or September, there will be an overview of goals for 2026 and a recap of the 2025 fiscal year.

8.    Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the MBTA Advisory Board (Hanna Switlekowski) and seconded by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Lenard Diggins). The motion carried.

 

Attendance

Members	Representatives and Alternates
MBTA Advisory Board	Brian Kane
Metropolitan Area Planning Council	Eric Bourassa
MBTA Advisory Board	Hanna Switlekowski
Regional Transportation Advisory Council	Lenard Diggins

 

Other Attendees	Affiliation
Chris Klem	MassDOT
Gisell De la Cruz	City of Salem

 

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Staff
Tegin Teich, Executive Director
Annette Demchur
Ethan Lapointe
Gina Perille
Hiral Gandhi
Olivia Saccocia
Ronan Buggle
Silva Ayvazyan

 

 

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