Municipal Empowerment Bill

Municipal Empowerment Bill

1/31/2025 Press Release: Healey-Driscoll Administration Files Municipal Empowerment Bill to Enhance Ability of Local Leaders to Deliver High-Quality Services for Their Communities: Municipal Empowerment Act Relieves Administrative Burdens, Supports Fiscal Strength, and Expands Tools Available to Support Communities

Link to bill with Governor's letter

Learn More about this bill

Of particular Interest:

Municipal Procurement (§§ 6-17) – These sections amend Chapter 30B in the following ways:

• exempts snow hauling from 30B (to match how snow removal's exemption);

• updates Chapter 30B section on exemption in a few areas to ensure the references correspond with the proper sections of general law, such as for design selection, roadway construction and energy procurements.

• Increases Chapter 30B thresholds for advertised procurements from $50k to $100k for all municipal purchasing, not just schools.

• Enables groups of cities and towns to award multiple contracts through the RFP process and purchase both supplies and services from collectively bid contracts;

• Eliminates the requirement to publish notice of invitations for competitive bids on COMMBUYS; and 

Local Option Taxes 1 (§§ 20, 66) – These sections establish a new local option Motor Vehicle Excise (MVE) surcharge of 5% and authorize municipalities to either dedicate the proceeds to a special purpose stabilization fund or treat as general fund revenue.

Collection of Water Charges on Non-Resident Customers (§ 21) – This section extends the option for municipalities and districts that provide utility services to impose liens when customers do not pay user charges when due to water services provided by water local departments to customers outside their borders.