reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 161 § 136 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 136 - Content of Agreement of Association of Purchasers; Execution of Agreement

Section 136. The purchasers at such sale shall, with their associates, to the number of at least fifteen, within sixty days after such sale, organize a company for the purpose of holding, owning and operating the street railway purchased, by filing in the office of the state secretary a written agreement of association, which shall state:  (a) That the subscribers thereto associate themselves with the intention of forming a street railway company.  (b) The corporate name assumed, which shall be one not in use by any other street railway company in the commonwealth, or, in the judgment of the department, so similar thereto as to be likely to be mistaken for it, and which shall contain the words, ''street railway company'', at the end thereof.  (c) The corporate name of the company whose property and franchises have been purchased.  (d) The termini of the railway.  (e) The length of the railway, as nearly as may be.  (f) The name of each city and town where the railway is located.  (g) The name of the court by which the sale was ordered, the date of such order, and date of sale.  (h) The total amount of the capital stock of the company, which shall be fixed at an amount approved by the department, but which shall not exceed the fair cost, as determined by the department, of replacing the railway and property so acquired, less the amount of any outstanding mortgages to which said railway and property may be subject in the hands of the new company.  (i) The par value of the shares, which may be one hundred dollars, fifty dollars or twenty-five dollars as the department shall authorize.  (j) The names and residences of at least five persons, who shall be subscribers to the agreement of association, to act as directors until others are chosen and qualified in their stead.  Each associate shall subscribe to the agreement of association his name, residence, post office address, and the number of shares of stock which he agrees to take.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 137 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 137 - Certificate of Incorporation; Organization of Railway Company

Section 137. The state secretary shall receive the agreement of association, and preserve it in form convenient for reference and open to public inspection, and shall issue a certificate of incorporation in the form authorized by section nine. Thereupon, the company shall organize in the manner provided in this chapter for the organization of a company. Such company may begin business as soon as it is organized, and shall have all the rights and be subject to all the duties of a street railway company, except as otherwise provided in this and the preceding section. If said purchasers fail to organize a company as hereinbefore provided, all rights and powers to operate said railway shall thereupon cease.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 138 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 138 - Annual Return Transmitted to Department by Street Railway Company Directors

Section 138. The directors of every street railway company shall annually within the time prescribed by section thirty-two of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine transmit to the department a return of the company for the year ending on December thirty-first preceding which shall be sworn to by the treasurer and the chief accounting officer of the company. Such return shall set forth copies of all leases and contracts made during the year with other street railway companies, and shall contain full and complete information upon the several items contained in the form prescribed by the department. A company owning a leased railway shall be responsible for the completeness and correctness of its annual return to the same extent as if the railway were in its own possession. A company which fails to make a return, or to amend it when notified so to do, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each day during which such failure continues.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 139 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 139 - Tables and Abstracts Prepared by Department

Section 139. The department shall prepare tables and abstracts of the returns of the several companies, and may include in its annual report such of them as it deems expedient.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 140 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 140 - Street Railway Lessee's Annual Return

Section 140. The lessee of a street railway shall make to the company which owns it the same annual return on oath of the operations and business of the railway as is required of the company which owns it; and, for failure so to do, shall be liable in tort to said company for all the penalties prescribed by law for failure by it to make its annual return.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 141 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 141 - Retention of Records by State Departments and Commissions

Section 141. Every state department and commission shall keep a record of its proceedings in any matter considered by it under any laws affecting street railways in which it shall enter every request, made by any party before it, for a ruling of law and of its action upon such request, and the neglect either to grant or refuse such request shall, subject to section five of chapter twenty-five, be taken in any judicial review of such proceedings as a refusal.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 142 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 142 - Equity Jurisdiction

Section 142. The supreme judicial or superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity, on petition of a company, or of the board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town where the street railway is located, or of any interested party, to compel the observance and to restrain the violation of all laws which govern street railway companies, and of all orders, rules and regulations made in accordance with this chapter by the board of aldermen, selectmen or the department, and to review, annul, modify or amend the rulings of any state department or commission relative to street railways as law and justice may require.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 143 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 143 - Establishment of Area

Section 143. A city or town may establish, or two or more cities or two or more towns, or two or more cities and towns, may unite for the purpose of establishing, transportation areas for the operation of freight or passenger service, or both, on street railways existing therein, and for the operation of bus, demand response and other services for the transportation of passengers and freight within and outside member towns. Upon the approval of such an agreement by the department and by the voters, as provided in section one hundred and forty-five, such a transportation area shall be a body corporate or politic, and may become vested with all the rights and powers and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations hereinafter conferred or imposed. All the laws and penalties relating to privately operated street railways within the commonwealth, and such rules and regulations as may from time to time be prescribed by the department shall apply to such an area. The area shall be given a distinctive name by the trustees, hereinafter provided for, which shall include the words ''Transportation Area''.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 144 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 144 - Preliminary Agreements

Section 144. A city, by vote of its city council, subject to the provisions of its charter, or a town by vote of its board of selectmen, may make preliminary agreements with one or more companies operating within its territory for the lease or purchase and operation of the properties of said company. For the purposes of this section, a company shall act by a majority of its board of directors.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 145 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 145 - Acceptance of Preliminary Agreements

Section 145. Upon the acceptance of such a preliminary agreement by a majority in interest of all classes of stock in such a company entitled to vote, and approval by the department after a public hearing of which due notice shall be given, the agreement shall thereupon be binding upon the company, subject to acceptance by the voters as hereinafter provided. The department shall make an appraisal of the property to which the agreement relates, and shall determine the value thereof and the price or rental to be paid therefor by the transportation area. The appraisal shall be on the basis of the actual value at the time of appraisal and not of the cost of replacement. Thereupon the said agreement and appraisal shall be advertised in a newspaper published in every city and town within said area, or in the county as the department may determine, and shall, within sixty days, be submitted to the voters in every such city at a regular or special municipal election, and in every such town at a town meeting called for the purpose, in the form of the following question to be placed upon the official ballot: ''Shall the agreement with the company, providing for the operation of its property by a transportation area under sections one hundred and forty-three to one hundred and fifty-eight, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and sixty-one of the General Laws to which the city of (or town of ) shall be a party, be accepted?'' If approved by a majority of the voters voting thereon by ballot in every such city and town, except such as may have been excluded by the department, acting under section one hundred and fifty-four, the said agreement shall thereupon be binding, but not otherwise, and the mayor and city council and the selectmen shall have authority to execute such further agreements, contracts or leases as may be necessary to effect the purposes and terms of the preliminary agreement.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 146 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 146 - Management of Transportation Area; Appointment and Compensation of Trustees

Section 146. The management and control of a transportation area shall be vested in a board of trustees of whom two shall be chosen by the mayor of each city concerned, with the approval of the city council, and two by the selectmen of each town concerned. The initial appointees shall serve for terms of one and two years, respectively, and their successors for terms of two years. If a transportation area is established by a single city, or town, its board of trustees shall consist of five members, of whom the initial appointees shall serve for one, two, three, four and five years, respectively, and their several successors for five years each. Each trustee shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duty, and a certificate thereof shall be recorded in the records of the secretary of the area, and shall serve until his successor is qualified. A trustee may be removed for cause by the appointing authority, and any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as an original appointment. The trustees shall not be deemed public officers within the meaning of section forty of chapter two hundred and seventy-one, nor shall they incur any personal liability as such. Together with their agents and employees, they shall be deemed agents of the transportation area. The trustees shall receive no stated salaries, but may be paid not more than ten dollars each for every meeting attended, but no trustee shall receive in the aggregate more than three hundred dollars annually. No stockholder in a street railway company the property of which is leased to a transportation area shall act as a trustee for such area.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 147 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 147 - Powers of Trustees; Status of Employees of Acquired Private Companies

Section 147. The board of trustees of a transportation area shall have full power to operate the street railway property leased or acquired thereby, or any equipment or facility otherwise acquired, or to lease or sublease the same, and to enter into contracts with private companies for the operation of mass transportation services within the transportation area, all such powers being subject to such conditions as may be approved by the department, and may appoint and remove and fix the compensation of such officers, managers and assistants as may be necessary. The board shall have the power to apply for and receive aid of any kind under the provisions of any federal or state law.  If, upon the establishment of a transportation area, the board of trustees shall acquire any private company previously operating within its area, the employees of such company, other than its board of directors, shall become employees of the transportation area and no employee of such company becoming an employee of the transportation area in accordance with this section shall, by reason of transfer to employment by the transportation area, without his consent be removed, lowered in rank or compensation or suspended, except for just cause and for reasons specifically given to him in writing twenty-four hours after such removal, suspension, transfer or lowering in rank or compensation; nor shall any such employee, by reason of such transfer, without his consent be in any worse position in respect to workers' compensation, pension, superannuation, sickness or any other benefits or allowances granted by his previous employer to himself, his widow, family or personal representatives than he enjoyed under any person, firm or corporation under whom he held his employment immediately prior to his transfer to the employment of the transportation area; provided that the trustees may abolish any office or post of any existing executive officer if in the opinion of the trustees the same is an unreasonable addition to the staff of the transportation area.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 148 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 148 - Officers of Board of Trustees; Election; Treasurer's Bond; Voting; Quorum; Annual Report

Section 148. At the first meeting of the said trustees, and at each annual meeting thereafter, they shall elect from their number a chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and a secretary who shall perform such duties as the trustees shall prescribe. The treasurer shall give a surety company bond in such amount as the trustees shall fix, and the premium thereon shall be paid as an expense of the area. Each trustee shall be entitled to one vote on all matters calling for the determination of the board. The trustees shall hold such meetings and transact such business as may be necessary for the efficient operation of the transportation area. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and the action of a majority of those present at any meeting shall be deemed the action of the trustees. The trustees shall annually, before February first, report, with a detailed statement of the finances of the area, to the several cities and towns of the area, and the treasurer shall, once in every three months, make a financial report to said cities and towns in such form as the trustees prescribe.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 149 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 149 - Taking of Railway by Eminent Domain

Section 149. Upon the request of the board of trustees of a transportation area established under this chapter the department shall take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine on behalf of such transportation area the whole property, or any part thereof, of a street railway which the company has ceased, for more than ninety days, to operate, provided that the department has determined that public necessity and convenience require the operation of such street railway, or part thereof and approves the taking, and provided also that the proposed taking has been approved by a majority of the voters, voting thereon, substantially in the manner provided by section one hundred and forty-five, in every city and town included within the transportation area.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 150 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 150 - Discharge of Liabilities and Obligations; Basis of Contribution by Municipalities Within Area

Section 150. The cities and towns comprising a transportation area shall contribute to the discharge of its liabilities and obligations on the basis of one third part according to the single track street railway and the bus or other mass transportation route mileage running in or through their respective limits, one third part according to their population, and one third part according to their assessed valuation. The department shall establish the said basis at least once in three years.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 151 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 151 - Finances of Transportation Areas

Section 151. The financial year of a transportation area shall end on the last day of each calendar year. The cities and towns comprising the area shall, in proportion to their respective interests, as defined in the preceding section, contribute to make up any financial deficit resulting from the operation of the area for any financial year, and the board of assessors of any such city or town, upon receipt from the trustees of a certificate showing the amount so found to be due, shall include said amount in the annual tax levy of the city or town for the year following the said financial year. If there is a surplus from such operation for any financial year, eighty-five per cent thereof shall be distributed by the trustees among the cities and towns comprising the area in proportion to their respective interests, and fifteen per cent thereof shall be held by the trustees to be applied to reduce any deficit in any succeeding year. In reckoning a profit or a deficit, the trustees shall first charge off as depreciation not less than three per cent and not more than five per cent of the book value of the property. Any sum received by the trustees in aid of the operation of the transportation area under any federal or state law shall be credited before reckoning a profit or a deficit.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 152 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 152 - Municipal Borrowing; Limitations

Section 152. For the purpose of acquiring street railway property or other equipment or facility under sections one hundred and forty-three to one hundred and fifty-eight, inclusive, of operating the same, or of contributing toward the sums expended by the transportation area for capital purposes, cities and towns may, with the approval of the department, borrow money in excess of the statutory limit, but not exceeding the sum of two per cent of their respective equalized valuation as defined in section one of chapter forty-four. The board of trustees of a transportation area shall have the power to at one time or from time to time issue bonds and notes for any one or more of the purposes for which a regional transit authority may issue bonds and notes under sections seven, ten and seventeen of chapter one hundred and sixty-one B of the General Laws. The power to issue such bonds and notes shall be subject to the terms set forth in sections seven, ten, eleven, thirteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen and twenty of chapter one hundred and sixty-one B of the General Laws. The board of trustees of a transportation area shall have the power to provide for the issue of interest bearing or discounted notes for the purposes and in the amounts that bonds may be issued in the same manner and subject to the same limitations as are applicable to regional transit authorities under section twenty-one of chapter one hundred and sixty-one B.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 152a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 152a - Contract Between Commonwealth and Trustees for Reimbursement for Deficit From Operation of Transportation Area

Section 152A. Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred and fifty-one, the commonwealth, acting by and through the secretary of administration, may enter into a contract or contracts with the trustees of a transportation area created under the provisions of sections one hundred and forty-three through one hundred and fifty-eight whereby the commonwealth agrees to reimburse the cities and towns comprising the area for fifty per cent of the financial deficit resulting from the operation of the area for any financial year. Contracts made by transportation areas with private carrier companies for which contract assistance is provided shall be within the limitations and subject to the terms of section twenty-three of chapter one hundred and sixty-one B so far as applicable and such contracts shall be eligible for contract assistance as herein provided.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 153 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 153 - Extension of Lines by Transportation Area; Purchase of Equipment; Consent of Department

Section 153. No extension of lines or trackage shall be made or additional equipment purchased by a transportation area without the consent of the department.
MA Gen L ch 161 § 154 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 161 - Street Railways|Section 154 - Exclusion of Municipality From Transportation Area

Section 154. The department may exclude from a transportation area any city or town, but such exclusion shall not prevent the operation of street railways in or through its territory. The department may also exclude any city or town or part thereof, the inclusion of which would, in its opinion, handicap the efficient operation of a transportation area. The department may permit the operation of street railways without the commonwealth by any transportation area which borders on the boundary line of another state.