Municipal Empowerment Act relieves administrative burdens, supports fiscal strength, and expands tools available to support communities 

Governor Maura Healey filed legislation to help local governments across Massachusetts reduce long-term fiscal pressures, attract a talented workforce, provide high-quality services, and streamline operations to best serve residents. Governor Healey announced her plan to refile the Municipal Empowerment Act last week, in tandem with a Chapter 90 reform bill the Governor filed to make meaningful investments in municipal transportation infrastructure.  

The Municipal Empowerment Act retains major efficiency measures that were part of the legislation filed last session. This includes permanently enabling municipalities to permit hybrid public meetings, reforming procurement rules, and establishing enforcement mechanisms to encourage the timely removal of double pole. Additionally, several new provisions have been added to help local officials improve public health and lower costs.  

“Every Massachusetts resident deserves to live in a community with high-quality local services, from safe roadways to access to good jobs and schools,” said Governor Maura Healey.”Our administration knows that city and town officials know their communities the best, 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.”  

“Our administration’s deep, collaborative relationships with municipal leaders informed every provision in the filed Municipal Empowerment Act,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “We’ve heard from local officials across the state that improving municipal finances and operations is top priority, and I’m proud that the legislation we’re filing today will equip our cities and towns with the resources and policy levers they need to continue making life better for our residents.” 

“Through the Municipal Empowerment Act, the investments in local communities proposed in our FY26 budget, and our Chapter 90 reform bill, we are continuing to support Massachusetts’ municipal leaders in keeping our cities and towns financially stable and vibrant well into the future,” saidSecretary of Administration and Finance Matthew J. Gorzkowicz. “We are grateful for the ongoing partnership of local officials across the state and look forward to making these transformative changes together.”  

New or updated provisions in the Municipal Empowerment Act from last session include:  

• Updating enforcement mechanisms for double pole violations, 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. 
• Expediting the removal of double poles by 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. 

• Supporting the prevention of drug overdoses by ensuring that anyone who administers fentanyl strips, including local public safety officials, will not be subject to criminal or civil liability. 
• Easing procurement of snow hauling services by aligning these services with procurement procedures for snow removal.  
• Expanding municipalities’ ability to reduce school bus service costs by repealing a law that limits districts’ ability to start in-house school bus services when private transportation companies are available.   

Highlights of the bill that have been retained from the previous version include:    

• Creating new property tax exemptions for seniors to allow cities and towns to adopt a Senior Means Tested Property Tax Exemption for qualifying seniors and to increase existing senior property tax exemptions.  
• Addressing long-term benefit funding pressures by 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.  
• Allowing the creation of Regional Boards of Assessors to allow municipalities to streamline duties and reduce significant staffing challenges.   
• Creating additional temporary flexibilities in post-retirement employment by expanding the process for seeking exemptions to post-retirement employment rules for the next 3 years. 
• Reforming procurement law:   
  • Clarifying that groups of cities and towns can award multiple contracts through an RFP process under M.G.L. Chapter 30B and purchase both supplies and services from collectively bid contracts;   
  • Equalizing 30B thresholds for advertised procurements to $100 k for all municipal purchasing – not just schools;  
  • Eliminating the requirement to publish notice of invitations for competitive bids on COMMBUYS;  
• Supporting workforce challenges by centralizing valuation of telecom and utility property through the Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services (DLS) to relieve cities and towns of the cost of individually hiring experts and consultants.   
• Updating borrowing rules for school projects to increase from 30 years to 40 years the bond term to more closely reflects the life expectancy of the project.  
• Empowering communities to generate more local revenue. As the primary lever available to cities and towns to raise revenues for local services, increasing pressure is being put on local property taxes. This bill expands options for cities and towns to raise revenue without raising property taxes: 
  • Increases the maximum local option lodging tax on hotel, motel and other rentals from 6 percent to 7 percent in most communities, and 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent for Boston. 
  • Increases the local meals tax ceiling from .75 percent to 1 percent; 
  • Adds a new local option surcharge of up to 5 percent on motor vehicle excise bills that can be dedicated to local stabilization funds – a provision that could benefit every community in Massachusetts. 

Since taking office, the Healey-Driscoll Administration has been committed to ensuring that every municipality, from Provincetown to Pittsfield, has the resources it needs to succeed. The administration’s FY26 budget proposal continues that commitment, with a recommended $9.205 billion in local aid, a $480 million or 6 percent increase over the FY25 budget, full funding of the fifth year of the Student Opportunity Act, and a proposal to leverage the voter-approved Fair Share surtax to expand and reform Chapter 90. The administration’s recently filed Chapter 90 reform bill authorizes the state to borrow $1.5 billion over the next five years, enabling $300 million in annual funds, a 50 percent increase. These legislative initiatives build on previous reforms to provide municipalities greater flexibility, such as passage of the most sweeping civil service system reforms in 50 years, which will enable local police and fire departments more options for recruiting key personnel.  

Learn more about the Municipal Empowerment Act here. 

Statement of Support

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, Somerville:  
“Cities and towns are frontline government providers that profoundly impact quality of life across the Commonwealth, but we’ve seen decades of decline in State Aid making our work more difficult. Kudos to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for taking on this challenge head on. This comprehensive, strategic, and forward-thinking Act would not only inject more aid but, critically, would also build sustainable, independent local revenue and policy options that will strengthen local government — and our Commonwealth — into the future. Put simply, this is smart government focused on the real results we need.”