Municipal Agency, G.L. c. 268A, §1(f)

Formal Opinions issued by the Ethics Commission.
  • EC-COI-85-22

    A former member of the town planning board may not act as the agent for or receive compensation from a development team in which he is a partner, on matters in which he previously participated in as a board member. Further, he may not appear before the board on any matter which was pending before the board while he was a member. This restriction also prohibits the former municipal employee from sharing in the fee that the development team will receive for its work before the planning board. His partner is prohibited for one year from participating in any activity in which the former board member is prohibited from participating. A committee of church members promoting the development is not a municipal agency. However, the committee members who are also municipal employees should refrain from appearing on behalf of the committee before the town.

  • EC-COI-87-28

    A member of a municipal neighborhood council which serves as a discussion forum for municipal issues and which has no official responsibility is not a municipal employee for the purposes of 268A. Should the council become formally organized and be delegated official municipal functions, however, then the jurisdictional conclusion would need to be reexamined.

  • EC-COI-88-2

    A Democratic city committee is not a state or municipal agency for purposes of 268A because its members do not perform services for the public.

  • EC-COI-88-19

    A non-profit corporation which was created to manage and operate cable television access channels is not considered to be a "municipal agency" under section 1(f). In determining when any entity is within the jurisdiction of 268A, the Commission has in past decisions considered the following factors: the means by which it was created (e.g., legislative or administrative action); the entity's performance of some essentially governmental function; whether the entity receives and/or expends public funds; and the extent of control and supervision exercised by government officials or agencies over the entity. EC-COI-88-2; 85-22; 84-65.

  • EC-COI-88-24

    A non-profit corporation created by a city redevelopment authority is considered a "municipal agency." In balancing the factors stated in 88-19, above, the Commission concluded that the corporation was primarily created to help the authority in performing its functions, used public funds, and was subject to substantial government control. Employees of the authority who work for the corporation are therefore subject to sections 17 and 23. NOTE: MBTA v. SEC added a fifth factor.

  • EC-COI-89-17

    Employees of an agency created by a legislative act are considered to be "municipal employees" within the meaning of section 1(g) because of the agency's essentially local character. Among the factors considered by the Commission were: (1) the services the agency provides; (2) the local control over the agency; (3) the collection of local revenues; (4) the fact that surplus agency funds accrued to the local municipality; and (5) the fact that title in the agency's property vests in the local municipality upon the agency's dissolution. As a municipal agency, its employees are not required to file Statements of Financial Interests.

  • EC-COI-91-3

    Members of the Martha's Vineyard Commission are considered employees of an independent municipal agency for purposes of G.L. c. 268A. A commissioner may participate in a permit application when he is a party to a lawsuit challenging Commission approval of a prior permit if he complies with section 23(b)(3).

  • EC-COI-95-1

    The executive director of a local cable access corporation is not a municipal employee under the conflict of interest law because the local cable access corporation is not a municipal agency.

  • EC-COI-99-5

    The Hampshire Council of Governments is a municipal agency for purposes of the conflict of interest law, and councilors are municipal employees of each of the Council's member municipalities.

  • EC-COI-00-2

    A municipal retirement board is a municipal agency for conflict of interest law purposes, and retirement board employees are municipal employees.

  • EC-COI-00-3

    The Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation is not a state, county or municipal agency for conflict of interest law purposes

  • EC-COI-03-4

    The Martha's Vineyard Commission is a municipal agency for purposes of the conflict of interest law.

    The Cape Cod Commission is a county agency for purposes of the conflict of interest law.

  • EC-COI-06-2

    The Hampshire Council of Governments is a "county agency" for purposes of G. L. c. 268A and a "governmental body" as defined in G. L. c. 268B. 

    The Franklin Regional Council of Governments is a "municipal agency" for the purposes of G. L. c. 268A.

  • EC-COI-11-3

    A city council member may also serve as a library trustee and, as a city council member, vote on the library budget because the library is a municipal agency and not a business organization.

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