Mass. Cities Score Victory on Local Aid

Massachusetts cities and towns appeared to have scored a clear victory this week in their fight with Gov. Michael S. Dukakis over his cuts in local aid, but just what kind of victory city officials are still reluctant to say.

While the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on Monday that Dukakis had no authority to slash $210 million in local aid from the state budget last year, it offered no remedy for the situation, leaving some municipal officials unsure how much money was likely to be restored to their governments.

"It is unclear in a lot of people's minds," said Paul Moran of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA). He said MMA officials are scheduled to meet with Dukakis tomorrow to discuss plans to restore the slashed funds.

"We are under the impression that implicit in [the ruling] is the return of those funds," Moran said.

And Jeffrey C. Allen, chair of the Brookline board of selectmen, which brought the suit against Dukakis, said yesterday that he had no doubt that the $2 million slashed from the town's budget would be restored immediately.

"I can't conceive of any complication. The court ruling is very clear," Allen said.

Dukakis himself has offered no specific course of action, merely commenting that the ruling "adds an additional burden to our financial problems." Restoring the slashed monies would increase the Massachusetts' already-mammoth budget deficit to a level of $1.2 billion, plunging the state into ever-deeper economic woes.

`A Contingency Fund'

Cambridge officials yesterday said they were highly skeptical that the city would be able to recover the $3.3 million lost through the cuts.

"No matter what the court says, if you haven't got it, you can't spend it," said City Treasurer James Maloney.

"It's really hard to be clear about what this means," said Mayor Alice K. Wolf. "Given the long-range prospects for the future, I think we're treating this as a contingency fund."

`We'll Take It'

Allen, however, said the skepticism of the Cambridge officials was misplaced.

"If they want to assign it to the town of Brookline, we'll take it, because they're getting it back," Allen said.

Maloney noted that Cambridge had been hit relatively lightly by the cuts, losing only 10 percent of its local aid, or about $3.3 million.

By comparison, he said the nearby town of Brookline, which brought the suit against Dukakis, lost 20 percent of its state aid. Such discrepancies might be eliminated as a result of the court ruling, Maloney said.

As a result, a distribution of funds meant to comply with the court ruling could end up costing Cambridge more. "If they were to even out the cuts across the board, it might cost the city even more," Maloney said.

In addition, Maloney said, state officials could attempt to make up for the gap by reducing local aid from future budgets.