Administration re-files Municipal Empowerment Act

Gov. Maura Healey today filed a multifaceted package of reforms and local options aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of local government operations.

The governor said the Municipal Empowerment legislation — very similar to a bill she filed last year — is intended to help local governments reduce long-term fiscal pressures, attract a talented workforce, provide high-quality services, and streamline operations. The governor announced her plan to file the bill on Jan. 24 during the MMA’s Connect 351 conference.

Efficiency measures carried over from the previous bill would permanently enable the existing local flexibilities for remote and hybrid public meetings, reform procurement rules, and establish enforcement mechanisms to expedite the removal of doubled-up utility poles, among other provisions. Several new provisions have been added to help local officials improve public health and lower costs.

“Our administration knows that city and town officials know their communities the best,” Healey said. “And that’s why we want to empower them with the tools to make the choices they need to provide the best local services that meet the unique needs of their communities.”

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, a former mayor who led a statewide listening tour last year to gather local officials’ input for the package, said, “Our administration’s deep, collaborative relationships with municipal leaders informed every provision in the filed Municipal Empowerment Act,” and the bill “will equip our cities and towns with the resources and policy levers they need to continue making life better for our residents.”

As they did at the MMA conference, local officials were quick to signal their strong support for the legislation.

“Cities and towns across the Commonwealth are extremely grateful to the Healey-Driscoll administration for their very thoughtful and practical Municipal Empowerment Act,” said Franklin Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, who’s president of the MMA. “At a time when cities and towns are struggling to balance budgets and maintain the quality services that all residents rely on, this legislation would remove obstacles to efficiency, reduce regulatory burdens, help communities solve persistent problems, and help address workforce challenges. I’m particularly excited about reforms to procurement and the permanent allowances for remote or hybrid public meetings.”

Provisions
The following Municipal Empowerment Act provisions are new or updated:
• Double poles: Extending the statutory prohibition against double poles from 90 days to 180 days, while giving municipalities enforcement authority with penalties for utilities that fail to comply, and empowering the Department of Public Utilities and Department of Telecommunications and Cable to establish a process allowing speedier removal while giving municipalities enforcement authority with penalties for utilities that fail to comply.

• Preventing drug overdoses: Ensuring that anyone who administers fentanyl strips, including local public safety officials, will not be subject to criminal or civil liability.

• Snow hauling services: Easing procurement by aligning these services with procurement procedures for snow removal.

• School bus service costs: Repealing a law that limits the ability of districts to start in-house school bus services when private transportation companies are available.

The following Municipal Empowerment Act provisions have been retained from the previous version:
• New property tax exemptions for seniors: Allowing cities and towns to adopt a senior means tested property tax exemption for qualifying seniors and to increase existing senior property tax exemptions.

• Long-term benefit funding: Establishing a new Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Commission to take a fresh look at opportunities to address unfunded liabilities from non-pension employee benefits.

• Regional boards of assessors: Allowing municipalities to create regional boards of assessors in order to streamline duties and reduce significant staffing challenges.

• Post-retirement employment: Creating additional temporary flexibilities by expanding the process for seeking exemptions to post-retirement employment rules for the next three years.

• Procurement reforms:
– Clarifying that groups of cities and towns can award multiple contracts through an RFP process under Chapter 30B and purchase both supplies and services from collectively bid contracts.
– Equalizing Chapter 30B thresholds for advertised procurements to $100,000 for all municipal purchasing, not just schools.
– Eliminating the requirement to publish notice of invitations for competitive bids on COMMBUYS.

• Telecommunications and utility valuations: Helping to address workforce challenges by centralizing, through the Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services, the valuation of telecommunications and utility property in order to relieve cities and towns of the cost of individually hiring experts and consultants.

• School projects: Updating borrowing rules to increase the bond term from 30 years to 40, to more closely reflect the life expectancy of school projects.

• Local-option revenues: Empowering communities to generate more local revenues for local services in order to help reduce pressure on local property taxes. At local discretion, municipalities would have authority to:
– Increase the maximum local-option tax on hotel, motel and other lodging rentals from 6% to 7% (or from 6.5% to 7.5% in Boston.
– Increase the local meals tax ceiling from .75% to 1%.
– Add a new surcharge of up to 5% on motor vehicle excise bills that can be dedicated to local stabilization funds (a provision that could benefit every community in Massachusetts).

Advocacy
At Connect 351, Healey and Driscoll urged local leaders to join them in advocating for the Municipal Empowerment Act, as well as their Chapter 90 proposal, and key accounts in their state budget.

“There will be a need for you to message and explain and tell your story about the acuity of the crises you’re facing in your cities and towns,” Healey said. “Costs have gone up for everything, and that money from the federal government, that was enjoyed a few years ago, is long gone. So it’s important for everybody to understand what it is you’re really confronted with.”

Visit the Municipal Empowerment Act web portal for more information about the bill.