Metropolitan Mayors Coalition Core
Elements of Municipal Relief

Cost Containment

1. Adopt a 75% cap on municipal contributions toward employee health insurance and make necessary legislative changes to allow Metropolitan Mayors Coalition to consolidate cities' health insurance bid.
2. Extend the time allowed to communities to eliminate their unfunded pension liabilities by five years.
3. Place a moratorium on new charter schools and fully fund the reimbursement program; in addition, reimburse charter schools for the average type of student, not average of all students.
4. Adopt a new early retirement incentive to assist with reductions of the municipal workforce.
5. Suspend mandates for budget increases for libraries and allow a higher percentage of state funds to be used for labor costs, instead of materials.

Local Government Reform

1. Allow communities to put forward design-build projects and eliminate the filed sub-bid process.
2. Modernize the procedures for local treasurers to be able to notify people of uncashed checks and to simplify the mechanism that allows abandoned funds to revert to the municipality.
3. Allow cities and towns to charge the maximum amount allowed under state law for tow removal.
4. Allow communities to directly flag a debtor's RMV file if that person has not filed auto excise taxes, getting rid of bureaucratic roadblocks to enforcement of auto excise taxes.
5. Adopt supplemental assessment as the standard protocol for municipalities, allowing assessors to begin charging accurate taxes as soon as an occupancy permit is issued on a newly constructed or renovated. Municipalities should continue to have the right not to adopt supplemental assessment.
6. Abolish Suffolk County and fold Suffolk County sheriff's office into state correction system.
7. Change MGL Ch. 60 so that once a property is under tax title, municipalities can continue to accrue interest on the unpaid property taxes.
8. To the extent possible, the State should consider introducing additional flexibility in the spending of local aid, reducing mandates regarding that spending and/or addressing formulas, minimum commitments and other mechanisms by which local spending is required or may be directed.

Local Option Revenue Enhancement
This section is a menu of possible local option taxes that cities and towns should be able to consider. A combination of some of these proposals will give municipalities a diversity of tools to remain fiscally viable during the current fiscal crisis.

1. Restructure the valuation schedule for the motor vehicle excise tax to better reflect the market value of motor vehicles.
2. Create a local option meals tax that would allow municipalities to add a 1% increase to the current meals tax.
3. Increase the amount communities are able to add as a surcharge to automobile leases or rentals from $.30 to $2.00. The surcharge has not been increased since 1985.
4. A local option tax that would allow municipalities to impose an excise on the use of off-street parking facilities.
5. A local option tax on billboards and signs, replacing the current property tax on those structures.
6. A local option tax on entertainment events or services, such as movie tickets or professional or collegiate athletic events.
7. Close tax loopholes which allow (1) telecommunications companies to be exempt from paying personal property taxes on equipment such as switches and (2) MBTA or Massport property that is used for commercial purposes to be tax exempt.

For more information about the Metropolitan Mayor's Coalition, please contact Joel Barrera, Project Director, 617-451-2770 ext. 2019 or jbarrera@mapc.org

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