City & Town Newsletters

Next issue of reviewing areas of fiscal stress using a municipalities debt burden.

This article provides valuable tips and guidance on navigating the fiscal year-end processes, including submitting free cash for certification and setting tax rates for the upcoming fiscal year. It emphasizes the importance of accurate documentation, clear appropriations, and proactive planning to streamline the financial procedures in municipalities.

Annual analysis of the property levies, assessed values and tax rates.

This article provides information on the Massachusetts State House Notes Program, a convenient, no-cost note certification procedure for the issuance of short-term debt, long-term serial, and refunding notes by a governmental entity. Administered by the Public Finance Section of the Bureau of Accounts (BOA), the program provides an alternative to the certification of notes procedure by commercial banks.

This article provides an update on the FY2025 assessment information from the DLS Bureau of Local Assessment. It contains a brief overview of the assessment certification process and data based on municipal submissions as of the end of November of this year.

This article provides an update on the FY2025 Community Preservation state match distribution. It highlights data related to the trust distribution amounts and links to important calculation information and previous years' distribution.

This article reviews the Fiscal Year 2025 statewide average single-family tax bill. It provides data and analysis including single-family tax bills for Massachusetts communities, comparisons by region, and statewide historical trends.

This article provides an analysis of Fiscal Year 2025 property levies, assessed values and tax rates. It compares FY2024 and FY2025 tax levies and assessed values and then provides FY2025 statistics. It also identifies communities close to their FY2025 levy limits and ceilings. Finally, it reports on tax rates and shifts between property classes.

Article relating to a borrowing option available which is both convenient and provided at no-cost, and has been around since 1911. The DLS State House Notes program provided by the Bureau of Accounts.

This article is part of the 2025 New Officials edition. In it, the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Local Services provides an introduction to helpful DLS tools and informational resources for newly elected and appointed local officials.