Treasury Accomplishments

Tim Cahill was elected Massachusetts’ Treasurer and Receiver General in 2002. In his capacity as Treasurer, Tim manages the state’s finances by taking a fiscally conservative approach to investing and maximizing the use of taxpayer money. He has proven himself to be an independent, fiscally responsible problem solver who consistently holds the line on over-spending, offers innovative solutions to complex financial problems, and implements cost-saving reforms that benefit taxpayers across the state. As Treasurer Cahill proudly serves the remainder of his second term, he will continue to seek new avenues of growth to bring financial and economic stability to the Commonwealth. Please take a moment to read through a summary of the many accomplishments throughout his tenure.

• Treasurer Cahill is Chairman of the seven-member Board of Directors
• He worked with lawmakers in 2004 to craft the legislation that created the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA)
• The MSBA works with local communities to identify school facility needs, develop fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions, and create safe, sound, and sustainable learning environments
• The original school building program (under the Executive Office of Department of Education) was in total disrepair, with an original waitlist of 428 projects 
• Its creation represents the most comprehensive reform to the system in 60 years
• The MSBA has made over $7 billion in payments to cities, towns, and regional school districts since its inception in 2004—more than any other state entity
• By making these expedited payments, the MSBA has saved cities, towns and regional school districts over 2.9 billion in avoided local interest costs.
• Saved $997 million for taxpayers by completing over 757 audits of the 800 audit backlog
• Made payments to over 420 of the 428 projects on the waiting list, with funding available for the remaining projects once they begin construction
• The MSBA created a Model Schools Program to build best-in-class schools while finding ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency. 
  •  The program reduced the cost of building a new Norwood High School from the estimated $100 million to $73.9 million
• As of July 1, 2009, the MSBA assumed full funding responsibility for the Green Schools Program, formerly funded by the Renewable Energy Trust Fund, and will now begin the process of improving all of the green schools program requirements
•  Currently working with over 100 districts on school construction projects ranging from repairs, renovations and new construction 
• There are $1.4 billion worth of projects going out to bid in 2010
• Between now and June 2010 MSBA projects will create approximately 1,150 jobs across the Commonwealth
• Breakdown of job creation:
  • 184 jobs for every new high school construction project
  • 89 jobs for every new middle school
  • 72 jobs created for every new elementary school

• Treasurer Cahill is Chairman of the nine-member Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board, which is charged with the general supervision of the PRIT Fund
• The Fund's 400,000 beneficiaries are:
  • The State Teachers Retirement Fund
  • The State Employees Retirement Fund
  • 92 local retirement systems
  • 87 percent of the assets of local boards
• The PRIT Fund exceeded the stock market in six out of the past seven years and outperformed our peers for a total growth of $16 billion since 2002.
• Changes made since 2002 have increased the return by 11 percent and reduced the risk by 23 percent
• Assets increased over $5 billion during 2009 alone, with the PRIT Fund ending 2009 with nearly $43 billion compared to $37.7 billion at the end of 2008
• The one-year return for the PRIT Fund is 12.82%
• As of June 30th 2010, total PRIT Fund assets are $41.3 billion
• Since the beginning of 2003, the PRIT Fund ranks in the top tenth percentile over the 7-year period when compared to public plans with greater than $1 billion in assets
• PRIM has a responsibility to seek out investment opportunities that will benefit the economic climate of the Commonwealth as a whole, and does so through its “Economically Targeted Investment program” (ETI)  
• Since the program’s inception in 2003, PRIM has committed $290 million to ETIs
• The ETI program has yielded:
  • over 2,870 jobs
  • 4,000 affordable housing units
  • 1,500 mortgages
  • 14 small business/economic development loans

• Treasurer Cahill is Chairman of the five-member Lottery Commission, which was established by the Legislature in 1971 to provide critical Local Aid revenue to the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns, as well as the state Arts Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council
• The Lottery sells the most tickets per capita in the nation and also has the highest per capita profits of any U.S. lottery
• Since FY03, the Massachusetts State Lottery has sold more than $35.6 billion in tickets and raised more than $7.2 billion in local aid
• FY10 profits were more than $903.5 million, $89.5 million more than first projected by the Lottery
• FY10 profits were $44 million more than FY09 profits, or up 5.2 percent
• During FY10 the Lottery introduced Powerball, a multi-state game that generated more than $35.4 million during the fiscal year, raising about $15 million for taxpayers.
• FY10 was also a strong year for sports-themed ticket sales.  Our portfolio of games has included: five Boston Red Sox tickets, two Boston Celtics tickets, a New England Patriots ticket and a Boston Bruins ticket
• The Lottery has sold more than $1 billion in sports-themed tickets since creating the market in 2006, raising more than $140.7 million for taxpayers.
• The Lottery also has the lowest administrative costs of any U.S. lottery- which were just 1.9 percent in the FY10 and lower than in FY06

• Treasurer Cahill is Chairman of a five-member Board that oversees the retirement of state employees of the Commonwealth, its agencies and various other public entities, including certain counties
• Our pension reform efforts have taken on many forms
• We've consistently held the line against pension abuse through administrative efforts:
• Fought against inflation of pension benefits by challenging the inclusion of college presidents’ housing allowances, value of parking spaces, office stipends, and per diems as “regular compensation” in retirement calculations
  • UMass President William Bulger: Blocked 300,000 pension boost that attempted to include his housing allowance and annuity in calculating his pension benefits
• Filed legislation to tighten the definition of "regular compensation"; (adpoted by the Legislature in Chapter 21 of the Acts of 2009)
• Aggressively took on pension forfeiture cases where members of the retirement system are charged or convicted of crimes related to their service:
  • Clerk Magistrate Jack Bulger: The Supreme Judicial Court agreed with the State Retirment Board that Mr. Bulger's convictions for obstruction of justice and perjury were crimes that related to his service as a Clerk Magistrate
  • Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi: Suspended Speaker DiMasi's pension for criminal charges related to his service.  Currently pending.
• Saved over $400,000 by implementing regular benefit verification process by which we ensure that benefits are being paid to eligible retirees and beneficiaries

 Abandoned Property

• The Abandoned Property Division protects assets belonging to the citizens of the Commonwealth. Under Massachusetts abandoned property law, financial assets that have been inactive for three years for most property types are reported to the Division
• After receiving the funds, the Treasury lists the names of property owners in newspapers across the state through a biannual publication
• Since 2003, the Division has:
  •  Received well over 775,000 phone calls
  •  Processed over 281,000 claims
  •  Received over a half million emails
  •  Made over 1.2 million total contacts
  •  Returned $353.1 million in cash to its rightful owner
  •  Returned 4.4 million shares of stock and 2.5 million Mutual Fund share 
• The Division's Outreach has returned over $5 million in cash, stock and mutual funds to cover 8,000 citizens of the Commonwealth
• Postponement of 2007 and 2008 ABP Stock Liquidations: under normal market conditions we would have proceeded with the liquidation of the 2004 and 2005 accounts in December of 2007 and December 2008 respectively. We delayed the December 2007 sale due to market volatility and in 2008 we did not sell due to the drastic downturn of the market in the fall of 2008.
• The stock sale resulted in over $76 million being added to the state’s General Fund
• The Treasurer transitioned the annual tangible property auctions to Ebay. This has resulted in a significant expansion of the bidder pool, which increases the gross revenue generated while maximizing the sale price for the original owner or their heirs
• The Division has also signed on to a pilot program to investigate the historical under-reporting of a certain property type by one of the country’s major financial sectors
• To date, this has resulted in the Treasury’s transfer of over $5 million to the Department of Revenue for the payment of outstanding tax and child support obligations

 Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission

• Per the Massachusetts General Laws, the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) is responsible for the “general supervision of the conduct of the business of manufacturing, importing, exporting, storing, transporting and selling alcoholic beverages.”
• The ABCC has brought in over $25.6 million in revenue since its transfer to the Treasury in 2004, with budget allocations of $13.91 million
• In FY10, the ABCC Investigation and Enforcement division investigated 5,860 applications, complaints, OUI notices and observed and reported violations of the Liquor Control Act, and conducted 352 hearings
• 2009, over $20.28 million in revenue went directly to the Commonwealth'ss cities and towns from retail beverage alcohol license fees reported to the ABCC, a 5.5% increase from 2008
• In FY10, the ABCC licensing division processed 26,468 licenses, renewals, and special permits
• Despite Massachusetts having the 3^rd lowest ratio of enforcement agents to licensees in the country, the 12-member Investigation and Enforcement Division – under the direction of Treasurer Cahill – has received the following national recognition for its innovative and successful enforcement programs for the prevention of underage drinking and drunk driving:
• 2004: Recognized as a National Success Story by the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
• 2004: The ABCC’s Chief Investigator was named the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association’s 2004 “Agent of the Year”
• 2005: Received the 2005 President’s Award from the National Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• 2007: Received the 2007 “Innovations in Health and Safety” Award from the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators
• 2008: Received the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association’s “2008 Enforcement Agency of the Year” award