Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Honorable Jack Patrick Lewis, House Chair
The Honorable Rebecca L. Rausch, Senate Chair
Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government
State House, Boston
Delivered electronically
Dear Chair Rausch, Chair Lewis, and Distinguished Members of the Committee,
On behalf of the 351 cities and towns of the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Municipal Association is pleased to write regarding several bills before the Committee.
The MMA is proud to offer our strong support of a slate of bills that would provide for increased municipal efficiency and effectiveness:
• S. 1471, An Act empowering municipalities and improving efficiency
• H. 2243, An Act relative to legal advertisements and public notices
• H. 2324 and S. 1443, An Act providing for the establishment of sustainable water resource funds
• H. 2322 and S. 1429, An Act to update the public shade tree law
These bills, though seemingly disparate, would update municipal tools and processes to be more efficient, saving both time and money. Modernizing processes, eliminating redundancy and creating more efficient operations is crucial as cities and towns face significant fiscal pressures. We strongly support these bills, knowing that even relatively small changes can make a tremendous difference in municipal operations.
Empowering Municipalities
S. 1471, An Act empowering municipalities and improving efficiency, aims to streamline processes and allow for municipalities to control certain aspects of their operations, including simple charter changes, liquor licensing, property tax exemptions, and other pieces of local impact. We have appreciated this committee’s partnership in passing home rule petitions on many of these issues, but we know that there’s an opportunity to right-size practices when they become primarily non-controversial.
Legal Advertisement Reform
H. 2243, An Act relative to legal advertisements and public notices, would allow a municipality to satisfy the publication requirements of a legal notice under Section 13 of Chapter 4 of the General Laws by publishing them in a print newspaper, a newspaper’s website, a statewide website or the city or town’s website. It would also allow a municipality to satisfy the notice requirements of a public hearing under Section 11 of Chapter 40A by posting it in a newspaper, its website or on the city or town’s website. Under current law, these postings must be done in a physical print edition of a newspaper, a costly endeavor that often fails to reach its intended target due to the closing of many local print publications.
Updating the current law to allow for online publication of legal ads and public hearing notices would provide significant cost savings, given they can cost upwards of $150 per posting, and municipalities may need to post hundreds in any given year. Allowing online publication would also ensure residents have easy and free access to them, while enabling the postings to have a larger reach.
Most importantly, H. 2243 mimics the language of several recently passed home rule petitions for towns such as Lexington, Lincoln, Sharon, Franklin, Arlington, Dracut and Bedford. The quick passage of these home rules and the addition of similar petitions filed this session suggest that a universal allowance as included in H. 2243 is both advisable, noncontroversial, and in the interest of all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth.
Sustainable Water Resource Funds
H. 2324 and S. 1443, An Act providing for the establishment of sustainable water resource funds, would provide greater funding flexibility for municipalities as they deal with growing environmental responsibilities in the world of water. This flexibility and legal clarity is much needed as cities and towns seek to fund water system investments without overburdening their ratepayers.
Water systems and districts take on significant responsibility to provide clean, safe, and reliable water services to residents and customers across the Commonwealth, from managing water sources to treating contaminants. Each day, water works professionals remain committed to their mission to protect public health, deliver quality water to users, and maintain trust in public water services. This work, however, does not come without a price tag.
Municipalities across Massachusetts have faced increased costs to provide drinking water and manage stormwater and wastewater over the past several years. As one example, efforts to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, can cost any city or town millions of dollars in upfront, capital costs and hundreds of thousands of dollars in ongoing, operational costs. It is essential work, and represents just one reason why municipalities and water districts should be enabled to use all the tools in the toolbox to save up for these expenditures.
Water banking enables a city or town to collect reasonable fees to dedicate toward water infrastructure costs. Through H. 2324 and S. 1443, municipalities would be able to collect funds and deposit them into a separate “Sustainable Water Resource Funds” account. This legislation would enable those funds to be used for a wider range of eligible projects than cities and towns are able to currently, particularly toward new development and new capital projects.
This practice would enable all municipalities and their water districts to plan for long-term improvements, investments, and expansions of service. We respectfully ask the Committee to favorably report out H. 2324 and S. 1443 and promote water banking as an option for communities across the Commonwealth.
Modernizing Public Tree Management
H. 2322 and S. 1429, An Act to update the public shade tree law are simple and well-supported bills that propose commonsense updates to the public shade tree law to better reflect contemporary life and the needs of municipalities. The bills clean up antiquated language, clarify fines for violations to the provisions within the statute, and allow municipalities to more easily attend to routine maintenance of public trees and shrubs. We urge your support for this practical update to support management of one of our most important natural resources: public trees.
In addition to the support of the above bills, the MMA would like to offer the municipal perspective on a few other matters before the Committee:
Land Use and Planning Board Training
Land use and planning boards provide essential functions at the local level. These volunteer positions have a profound effect on local land use decisions in their municipalities and across the Commonwealth. We greatly appreciate the attention on legislation focused on the needed support and education for our land use and planning boards. In particular, H. 2299, An Act regarding land use board training, aims to provide this support and training for these roles across municipal government. Education and training, provided by the Commonwealth, can play a critical role to support the work of these positions. As the Committee considers future action on the bill, we urge the Committee to support as much flexibility as possible in implementing such a provision, and to ensure the Department consults with the MMA in the development of the training program.
Civil Service Exemption
Finally, the MMA strongly opposes S. 1424, An Act relative to civil service adoption. This bill would exempt Civil Service from Section 4B of Chapter 4 of the Massachusetts General Laws. Section 4B relates to the rescission of laws previously accepted by municipalities. This section empowers cities and towns to revoke the adoption of most laws in the same manner they were accepted (i.e., town meeting, local election, special act/home rule petition). This has been a fundamental tool for cities and towns for decades, and the change proposed in S. 1424 would subvert the authority of citizens across the Commonwealth, the will of local unions, and the decision making powers of local officials. We strongly urge the Committee to provide S. 1424 with an unfavorable report.
Conclusion
We deeply appreciate the Committee’s review of these bills and for considering our comments. If you have any questions or desire further information, please do not hesitate to have your office contact me or MMA Senior Executive and Legislative Director Dave Koffman at any time.
Sincerely,
Adam Chapdelaine
MMA Executive Director and CEO