Massachusetts spending over $15k per month per family on migrant housing and transportation

Taxpayers in Massachusetts are spending up to $187,000 per year, or over $15,000 per month, to house and provide consistent transportation for each migrant family in Taunton.

This week, we received details from a FOIA request that revealed the transportation cost per migrant family at Taunton’s Clarion Hotel is $67,000 a year. Earlier this year, State Senator and budget chief Michael Rodrigues stated that Massachusetts taxpayers are currently spending $10,000 per month per family, or $120,000 per year on the emergency shelter system. The $10,000 is the average cost per migrant family in Massachusetts, but because details are hard to come by, I’m using it as the cost for the Taunton hotel (it might be cheaper or more expensive).

Fall River Reporter will be tallying the total cost of taxpayer funded services for migrants to include but not limited to housing, transportation, food benefits, legal fees, health care, phones and other costs. We estimate that Massachusetts is spending around $250,000 in befits annually.