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Advocacy Policies & Resolutions Resolution on a New Partnership Between Cities and Towns and State Government
Whereas, state and local governments in Massachusetts provide quality services valued and supported by residents and businesses as essential to individual and collective economic prosperity;
Whereas, the Commonwealth’s economic future depends on the fiscal strength and service capacity of all 351 cities and towns;
Whereas, the Legislature and the Executive have predominate authority under the Constitution to regulate taxation and set law governing municipal administration and a companion obligation to ensure that cities and towns have sufficient revenues and appropriate management tools to fulfill locally determined obligations and state mandates and to respond to urgent challenges such as the creation of affordable housing;
Whereas, the present state-municipal relationship has been seriously compromised following several years of economic and fiscal distress for state and local government and is reflected locally by historically high reliance on the regressive property tax and constrained municipal and school services;
Whereas, heavy reliance on the property tax to fund municipal and school services, without meaningful revenue alternatives, hurts local economies and jeopardizes economic expansion statewide; and
Whereas, a new and enduring compact between local and state government is necessary to ensure that municipal government can effectively and efficiently provide vital services and provide a fertile environment for economic growth, competitiveness and prosperity, which is so dependent upon local quality of life;
Therefore it is hereby resolved by the members of the Massachusetts Municipal Association that:
In the Matter of Revenue Sharing,
A reasonable and fixed share of state tax collections should be distributed annually to local government to help support municipal and school services and to avoid over-reliance on the property tax;
State tax revenue sharing must include a revitalized municipal assistance program to help pay for public safety and other vital municipal services for all cities and towns with base amounts held harmless and distribution of new funds through a fair and equitable formula that includes acceptable measures of ability to pay and expense factors that reflect the full range of real local costs and obligations;
The Governor and the Legislature should immediately end diversion of Lottery revenues dedicated by law and practice for cities and towns and ensure that all municipal Lottery revenues are distributed without earmarking to help pay for local services and to ease property tax burden; and
Revenue sharing must also include a renewed Chapter 70 school aid program that ensures adequate state funds for local schools targeted toward a state share of fifty percent of required school spending and a fair and equitable determination of local contribution and new school aid amounts giving proper weight to vital factors such as median household income.
In the Matter of Local Taxing Authority,
Cities and towns must be granted authority to consider and adopt local option taxes, as is common in other states, to help pay for local services as an alternative to the property tax; and
The Governor and the Legislature should take timely action to update municipal tax law and protect the local tax base from loopholes created by new technologies and business practices, particularly in the area of telecommunications.
In the Matter of Budget Busters and the Delivery of Local Services,
With strict state laws limiting municipal ability to manage local budget busters, the Legislature and the Governor must grant cities and towns more effective tools to address health insurance and other employee benefit costs, including changes to how employer-employee contribution rates and benefit plan features are determined, at a minimum allowing cities and towns to make these decisions in the same way that state government is able to make similar decisions regarding benefits for state employees;
The division of financial responsibility between the state and cities and towns for government services needs to be revisited to ensure that local property tax revenues are not being diverted to pay for state or authority-related obligations, including for county government and transportation authorities;
State government must begin to work collaboratively with cities and towns to develop solutions to the catastrophic financial impacts posed by employee post-retirement health care costs to both state and local governments; and
Cities and towns need to move toward regional approaches to service delivery and cost-sharing using changes to state law to facilitate regional structures and strong technical assistance and financial incentive programs.
Advocacy Policies & Resolutions Resolution on a New Partnership Between Cities and Towns and State Government
Resolution on a New Partnership Between Cities and Towns and State Government
Whereas, state and local governments in Massachusetts provide quality services valued and supported by residents and businesses as essential to individual and collective economic prosperity;
Whereas, the Commonwealth’s economic future depends on the fiscal strength and service capacity of all 351 cities and towns;
Whereas, the Legislature and the Executive have predominate authority under the Constitution to regulate taxation and set law governing municipal administration and a companion obligation to ensure that cities and towns have sufficient revenues and appropriate management tools to fulfill locally determined obligations and state mandates and to respond to urgent challenges such as the creation of affordable housing;
Whereas, the present state-municipal relationship has been seriously compromised following several years of economic and fiscal distress for state and local government and is reflected locally by historically high reliance on the regressive property tax and constrained municipal and school services;
Whereas, heavy reliance on the property tax to fund municipal and school services, without meaningful revenue alternatives, hurts local economies and jeopardizes economic expansion statewide; and
Whereas, a new and enduring compact between local and state government is necessary to ensure that municipal government can effectively and efficiently provide vital services and provide a fertile environment for economic growth, competitiveness and prosperity, which is so dependent upon local quality of life;
Therefore it is hereby resolved by the members of the Massachusetts Municipal Association that:
In the Matter of Revenue Sharing,
A reasonable and fixed share of state tax collections should be distributed annually to local government to help support municipal and school services and to avoid over-reliance on the property tax;
State tax revenue sharing must include a revitalized municipal assistance program to help pay for public safety and other vital municipal services for all cities and towns with base amounts held harmless and distribution of new funds through a fair and equitable formula that includes acceptable measures of ability to pay and expense factors that reflect the full range of real local costs and obligations;
The Governor and the Legislature should immediately end diversion of Lottery revenues dedicated by law and practice for cities and towns and ensure that all municipal Lottery revenues are distributed without earmarking to help pay for local services and to ease property tax burden; and
Revenue sharing must also include a renewed Chapter 70 school aid program that ensures adequate state funds for local schools targeted toward a state share of fifty percent of required school spending and a fair and equitable determination of local contribution and new school aid amounts giving proper weight to vital factors such as median household income.
In the Matter of Local Taxing Authority,
Cities and towns must be granted authority to consider and adopt local option taxes, as is common in other states, to help pay for local services as an alternative to the property tax; and
The Governor and the Legislature should take timely action to update municipal tax law and protect the local tax base from loopholes created by new technologies and business practices, particularly in the area of telecommunications.
In the Matter of Budget Busters and the Delivery of Local Services,
With strict state laws limiting municipal ability to manage local budget busters, the Legislature and the Governor must grant cities and towns more effective tools to address health insurance and other employee benefit costs, including changes to how employer-employee contribution rates and benefit plan features are determined, at a minimum allowing cities and towns to make these decisions in the same way that state government is able to make similar decisions regarding benefits for state employees;
The division of financial responsibility between the state and cities and towns for government services needs to be revisited to ensure that local property tax revenues are not being diverted to pay for state or authority-related obligations, including for county government and transportation authorities;
State government must begin to work collaboratively with cities and towns to develop solutions to the catastrophic financial impacts posed by employee post-retirement health care costs to both state and local governments; and
Cities and towns need to move toward regional approaches to service delivery and cost-sharing using changes to state law to facilitate regional structures and strong technical assistance and financial incentive programs.
