AS LEGISLATORS ASSESS priorities in the sprint to the end of the legislative session on July 31, we urge them not to overlook an important bill that could make a difference in people’s daily lives without costing the state a dollar: the governor’s Municipal Empowerment Act.
At a time when cities and towns are struggling to balance budgets and maintain the quality services that all residents rely on — educating kids, ensuring public safety, providing safe drinking water, picking up the trash, maintaining roads — the “muni empowerment” legislation would remove obstacles to efficiency, reduce regulatory burdens, help communities solve age-old problems, and address workforce challenges. The changes would provide some common sense relief to soaring municipal operating costs.
The bill’s 30-plus provisions would reform procurement and borrowing rules that hinder projects like school renovations, and make permanent a number of COVID pandemic-era allowances for remote or hybrid public meetings — popular options that have increased public participation in their government.
To address local staffing shortages in key positions, it would provide training to boost the pipeline of qualified individuals and loosen the rules to allow retirees to continue to contribute their expertise.
To help those on fixed incomes, it would allow a new means-tested property tax exemption for seniors. And when communities are hit by a major storm, it would let them spread those unforeseen costs over three years.
Many of the bill’s provisions are exceedingly practical. It would finally give teeth to the often-ignored state law that requires utilities to remove the doubled-up poles that hinder safety at intersections and create obstacles for pedestrians. And it would advance climate-conscious efforts to electrify school bus fleets by combining what are now two separate purchasing processes — one for the vehicles and another for the charging infrastructure.
The bill would also allow cities and towns, at local option, to address strained budgets by adopting small increases to local meals and lodging taxes and to create a new motor vehicle excise surcharge if they choose.
In the 250 communities that have a meals tax, the increase would amount to 25 cents on a $100 restaurant tab. The lodging tax, currently used by 216 communities, would increase by a single percentage point. The vehicle excise surcharge would amount to less than $8 on an average vehicle. These increases would have a small impact on consumers, but collectively would make a big difference for cities and towns and the services they provide.
Municipalities — like the private sector and households — are having to manage their essential operations in the face of escalating costs and workforce challenges. But municipal revenues are tightly constrained by a state law known as Proposition 2½. It’s simply not sustainable.
Recognizing these challenges, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, a former mayor of Salem with a deep understanding of municipal government, conducted a listening tour across the state last fall, asking roughly 150 mayors and town managers about issues that stand in the way of efficient and effective local government, and asking what the state can do to help. She heard a lot about outdated and obsolete laws, counter-productive and costly regulatory constraints, and missed opportunities to address challenges in a meaningful way. Driscoll and Gov. Maura Healey distilled that feedback into the Municipal Empowerment Act, which they filed in January.
Local leaders were quick to show their strong support when the legislation was announced during the Massachusetts Municipal Association annual meeting in January.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell called it a “common sense effort to help me serve the residents of my city better.” Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove said it “addresses the needs of local government while providing flexibility to do what’s best for each of our communities.” Williamstown Select Board member Andy Hogeland said the “very strong and thoughtful” package will “give relief to all municipalities.” And Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn and Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang, co-chairs of the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, said, “Passing the MEA promptly would be an enormous boon to communities all over Massachusetts.”
Now, we are asking the Legislature to seize this opportunity before the clock runs out on the current legislative session. Pass the Municipal Empowerment Act and help communities do the important work that has a direct impact on the lives of constituents all across the Commonwealth.
Adam Chapdelaine is executive director and CEO of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Marc Draisen is executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
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