DLS CIty & Town

Announcing Year Five of the Community Compact Program

Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito

I hope you all are enjoying your summer. I am writing to announce the Year 5 Community Compact Cabinet (CCC) program. Fostering a strong partnership with our municipalities continues to be a top priority for the Baker-Polito Administration, and the Community Compact Cabinet is a prime example of how the state remains responsive to the needs of municipalities.

The first four years of the program have been incredibly successful, with all 351 cities and towns signing up for the Best Practice program, more than 200 municipalities and school districts receiving Efficiency and Regionalization grants, and close to 190 municipalities receiving funds from the IT Grant program. In FY20, we will continue to offer the Best Practice program and the IT Grant program.

Best Practices Program

Beginning August 15, applications for Year 5 of the CCC Best Practice program can be submitted by those municipalities who did not apply in FY19 for a Compact, atwww.mass.gov/ccc. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed within one month of submission. Eligible applicants can choose up to two best practices. The complete set of best practices is available on the Community Compact Cabinet website, along with a helpful Question and Answer section.

IT Grant Program

On September 16, the application for the Community Compact IT Grant Program will open. Cities and towns that were awarded an IT Grant Program grant in FY19 will not be eligible in FY20.

This is a competitive grant program focused on driving innovation and transformation at the local level via investments in technology. Using the transformative powers of IT, we can drive innovation, make government more efficient, save taxpayer money, and make it easier for residents to interact and transact with their local government.

Grants of up to $200,000 will support the implementation of innovative IT projects by funding related one-time capital needs such as technology infrastructure, upgrades and/or purchases of equipment or software. Incidental or one-time costs related to the capital purchase such as planning, design, installation, implementation and initial training are eligible.

It is exciting to have these programs available again for our partners in local government. Together they offer you an opportunity to position your community for long-term success, including bonus points on various statewide grants if you enter into a Best Practice compact. I thank the Legislature for funding these programs in FY20 and look forward to working with you in the near future as Chair of the Community Compact Cabinet. If you have any questions, contact Sean Cronin, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Local Services, atcroninse@dor.state.ma.us.

Finally, I would like to highlight the conference we will once again be hosting in collaboration with the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA). Please join us Tuesday, October 8^th at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester for an event centered on “Municipalities in the 21^st Century”. State and local officials will join together to share ideas and attend workshops focusing on housing, cybersecurity, economic development, climate resiliency, age friendly communities and other subjects. More information will be sent out soon. We hope you can attend!

Register Today for "What's New in Municipal Law 2019"

The Division of Local Services Legal Staff will offer its annual seminar "What's New in Municipal Law" for local officials on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke and Thursday, October 10, 2019 at The Lantana in Randolph. The general session in the morning will review new legislation and recent court decisions pertaining to local government.

The afternoon session will consist of three concurrent workshops that will discuss current and recurring issues of interest related to: (1) tax administration, including abatement and appellate tax board jurisdiction; 8 of 58 case studies; and an update on solar facility issues; (2) treasurer/collector and accountant Issues, including other post-employment benefits (OPEB) fund; collection of non-tax municipal charges; accounting treatment of short-term rental local option impact fees, and cannabis, casino and transportation network company (TNC) revenues; and (3) discussion of laws and best practices governing separation of municipal duties; regionalization issues.

Please click the following for the agenda and the registration form. Registrations must be received by September 19, 2019. Pre-registration is required.

If you have any questions about these seminars, please contact DLS Training Coordinator Jennifer McAllister at 617-626-3838 or dlsregistration@dor.state.ma.us.

The Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers (MAAO) will grant four (4) hours of continuing education credits to assessors attending this program.