City & Town Newsletters

This article provides guidance to assist local officials understand how the overlay and overlay surplus work in order to help local governments maintain fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Using the Financial Management Resource Bureau's Financial Indicator tool to understand and budget the most reliable revenue source available to a community, it's property tax levy.

This article provides pointers, general guidance, and resources for local officials to ensure a smooth, timely, and accurate year-end close process.

This article explains how the collection of committed real and personal property taxes affects free cash in a municipality. It explains the starting point of the free cash calculation, impacts on free cash and it provides helpful examples.

This article reviews the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission's (PERAC) 2023 report and discusses important indicators for the financial health of each retirement system.

In this article, Senior Deputy Commissioner Sean Cronin provides a glimpse into the metrics DLS uses to track progress both during and at the conclusion of the tax rate-setting season. It provides helpful data, context and resources that benefit local officials as they review their previous processes and prepare for the future.

This article serves as an overview of the motor vehicle excise process and provides helpful resources and tools for local officials, particularly local assessors.

This article is part of the 2025 New Officials edition. In it, the Bureau of Local Payments provides a helpful introduction to resources local officials to can use to follow state aid proposals throughout the budget process and track payments to local entities throughout the year.

This article discusses the unique challenges faced by rural assessing offices in Massachusetts, including staffing shortages and budget constraints, and highlights the establishment of a new position aimed at providing support and resources to improve assessment operations in these communities. It also explores potential collaborative solutions, such as intermunicipal agreements and the creation of Regional Boards of Assessors, to enhance efficiency and address the specific needs of rural municipalities.

This article analyzes PERAC’s January 1, 2025 List of Retirement Boards by Funded Ratio. It reviews the latest list for the 99 municipal systems only and determine how their metrics have changed from one year ago.