reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 40 § 42j (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 42j - Deferral of Charges

Section 42J. In a city, town or district which accepts the provisions of this section, the board responsible for assessing charges for the use of water under section sixty-nine B of chapter forty-one or any other provision of law, shall, upon the application of the owner of the real property to which the water is supplied, if such owner is receiving an exemption from property taxes under clause Forty-first A of section five of chapter fifty-nine with respect to such property, defer charges for water supplied to such property. An application for deferral may be filed with said board within the time limit established for the filing of an application for exemption under said clause Forty-first A.  The board that imposes such charges shall notify the board of assessors of any deferral granted under the provisions of this section, and shall annually thereafter notify said board of assessors of any unpaid water rates and charges to be added to the tax bill. Such charges shall be committed by the assessors along with the real estate taxes for each fiscal year, and secured by the statement of lien executed pursuant to said clause Forty-first A. Upon such qualification for deferral, no further application under this section need be filed in order to qualify for deferral of water charges in subsequent years. No additional notice or statement of lien need be recorded or registered with respect to such deferred water charges, but the amount of such deferred charges shall be listed on any certificate of liens issued under section twenty-three, twenty-three A or twenty-three B of chapter sixty. Whenever a person who has received an exemption under said clause Forty-first A ceases to receive such exemption, the board of assessors shall cease deferring water rates and charges added to the tax bill, and shall notify the board responsible for the assessment of such charges of the discontinuance of such deferral of said charges.  Interest shall be charged upon deferred water charges at the same rate as interest on taxes deferred under said clause Forty-first A. The deferred charges, together with accrued interest shall be due and collectible at the same time and upon the same terms and conditions as taxes deferred under said clause Forty-first A.  The amount of water charges deferred under this section, plus accrued interest, shall not be used in determining whether a taxpayer continues to be eligible for exemption under said clause Forty-first A.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 42k (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 42k - Assessment of Betterments

Section 42K. In a city, town or district which accepts the provisions of this section, the water commissioners may assess betterments in accordance with the provisions of chapter eighty for the construction and connection of water mains and services by a uniform unit method which shall be based upon the common main construction costs divided among the total number of existing and potential water units to be served after having allocated the town contribution, if any, and after having proportioned the cost of special (specific unit) and general benefit facilities. Each water unit shall be equal to a single family residence. Potential water units shall be calculated on the basis of zoning in effect at the date of assessment. Existing and potentially and potentially multi-family, commercial, industrial and semi-public uses shall be converted into water units on the basis of residential equivalents.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 43 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 43 - Authorization for Laying of Pipes for the Transmission of Steam or Hot Water

Section 43. The board of aldermen or the selectmen may, upon terms and conditions prescribed by them, authorize the laying of pipes and conduits for the transmission of steam or hot water for heating, cooking and mechanical power, for private use, under any public way in their town, may regulate and control the same, may at any time require the persons using such pipes and conduits to make alterations in the location or construction thereof, and may, after notice and hearing, order the removal thereof. Any use of such pipes and conduits other than herein authorized shall terminate the authority to maintain the same. Sections twelve, thirteen and fourteen of chapter one hundred and fifty-eight shall apply to proceedings hereunder so far as applicable.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 43a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 43a - Permission to Construct Pipelines for Conveying Petroleum or By-Products Thereof; Conditions

Section 43A. The board of alderman or the selectmen may, subject to such terms and conditions as they may deem advisable and subject also to such rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the state department of fire services, grant to any person the right to lay, construct, maintain and operate pipe lines for conveying petroleum or the products or by-products thereof through, over, across or under any public way, other than a way referred to in section forty-four B of chapter thirty, and in connection therewith may grant permission to any such person to dig up, open or tunnel under such public way.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44 - Improvement Districts; Purposes; Membership; Tenure; Powers and Duties

Section 44. A town may, at a town meeting, authorize a village or district therein, if it contains not less than one thousand inhabitants, to organize under a name approved by the town for the purpose of erecting and maintaining street lamps, establishing and maintaining libraries, building and maintaining sidewalks, or for employing and paying police officers, and shall accurately define the limits of such village or district. Such village or district shall have a clerk and a prudential committee, and may have a treasurer and such other officers as it determines, each of whom shall hold office for one year and until another is qualified. Such village or district may adopt by-laws to define the manner of calling its meetings and the duties of its officers, may sue and be sued in the name of its inhabitants, and, so far as appropriate, shall be subject to sections sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-six, sixty-nine, seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three, seventy-seven and seventy-nine of chapter forty-eight.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44a - Regional Refuse Disposal Planning Committee

Section 44A. A city or town, by vote of the council in a city and by vote of the board of selectmen in a town, may create a special unpaid committee to be known as a regional refuse disposal planning committee consisting of 3 persons to be appointed by the board of selectmen in a town and by the mayor in a city.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44b - Regional Refuse Disposal Planning Board; Study of Creation of District; Expenses of Board; Refuse Disposal Facility Defined

Section 44B. Regional refuse disposal planning committees from any two or more cities or towns may join together to form a regional refuse disposal planning board. Such regional refuse disposal planning board shall study the advisability of establishing a regional refuse disposal district, its organization, operation and control, and of selecting, constructing, maintaining and operating a refuse disposal facility to serve the needs of the district, and shall estimate construction and operating costs and study methods of financing such district. Each city or town comprising such board may appropriate a sum not in excess of ten thousand dollars for the purpose of meeting the expenses of the board. Such board may expend any such sums so appropriated and may employ such expert assistance as it deems necessary. Such board may apply for, accept and expend, without appropriation, grants or gifts of funds from the federal government. As used in this section and in sections forty-four C to forty-four K, inclusive, the term ''refuse disposal facility'' shall mean an incinerator, sanitary land fill, transfer station, composting plant, other sanitary means of refuse disposal approved by the department of environmental protection, or any combination of two or more of such facilities.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44c - Regional Refuse Disposal Planning Board; Agreement for Establishment of District

Section 44C. The regional refuse disposal planning board, consisting only of the regional refuse disposal planning committees which vote in favor of the establishment of a regional refuse disposal district, shall draw up a proposed agreement. The said agreement shall contain provisions describing the sharing of construction and operating costs, the number, method of selection and terms of office of the members of the regional refuse disposal district committee, the general area in which the refuse disposal facility shall be constructed, the terms by which another city or town may be admitted to the district, the method by which the agreement may be amended, the procedure for the preparation and adoption of the annual budget and any other matters, not incompatible with law, which the said board may deem advisable; provided, however, that all plans for refuse disposal facilities shall be subject to the approval of the state department of environmental protection.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44d - Report of Board

Section 44D. The regional refuse disposal planning board shall report its findings and recommendations to the board of selectmen and the mayor, as the case may be, of each city or town comprising the board. If the board recommends that a regional refuse disposal district be established, a copy of the proposed agreement shall accompany the report to each such city or town.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44e (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44e - Acceptance of Recommendation; Election; Establishment of District

Section 44E. The selectmen of each of the several towns, upon receipt of a recommendation that a regional refuse disposal district be established, shall vote on the question of accepting the plan. The mayors of the several cities, upon receipt of a recommendation that a regional refuse disposal district be established, shall submit the question of accepting the plan to their respective city councils within 60 days after receipt of the recommendation. If a majority of the members of each city council voting on the question and the board of selectmen in each town vote in the affirmative, the proposed regional refuse disposal district shall be deemed to be established in accordance with the terms of the proposed agreement.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44g (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44g - Exercise of Powers; Officers of Committee

Section 44G. The powers, duties and liabilities of a regional refuse disposal district shall be vested in and exercised by a regional refuse disposal district committee organized in accordance with the agreement. The committee shall choose a chairman by ballot from its membership. It shall appoint a secretary and a treasurer, who may be the same person, but who need not be members of said committee. The treasurer shall receive and take charge of all money belonging to the district and shall pay any bill of the district which shall have been approved by the committee. The treasurer may, by vote of said committee, be compensated for his services. The treasurer of said district shall be subject to the provisions of sections thirty-five, fifty-two and one hundred and nine A of chapter forty-one, to the extent applicable.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44h (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44h - Maintenance and Operating Expenses; Debts; Determination and Apportionment

Section 44H. The regional refuse disposal district committee shall annually determine the amounts necessary to be raised to maintain and operate the district during the ensuing fiscal year, and the amounts required for payment of debt and interest incurred by the district which will be due in the said year, and shall apportion the amount so determined among the several member cities and towns in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The amounts so apportioned for each city or town shall, prior to December thirty-first in each year, be certified by the regional district treasurer to the treasurers of the several cities and towns. The obligation of each member city or town to pay apportionments pursuant to the agreement shall be included in the amounts to be assessed annually in such city or town under section twenty-three of chapter fifty-nine without appropriation and the city or town treasurer shall pay to the district the amounts so apportioned at the times specified in the agreement. The amounts apportioned or to be apportioned pursuant to the agreement shall not be included in the statutory limit of indebtedness of any city or town.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44i (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44i - Annual Audit and Report; Costs

Section 44I. The director of accounts in the department of corporations and taxation shall annually cause an audit to be made of the accounts of the regional refuse disposal district committee, and for this purpose he, and his duly accredited agents, shall have access to all necessary papers, books, and records. Upon the completion of each audit, a report thereon shall be made to the chairman of said district committee, and a copy thereof shall be sent to the mayor and to the chairman of the board of selectmen, respectively, of each city and town which is a member of said district. The director shall apportion the cost among the several cities and towns which are members of the district on the basis provided by section forty-four C, and submit the amounts of each apportionment to the state treasurer, who shall issue his warrant requiring the assessors of the cities and towns which are members of the district to assess a tax to the amount of the expense, and such amounts shall be collected and paid to the state treasurer, as provided by section twenty of chapter fifty-nine.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44j (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44j - Sale, Lease or License of Lands or Facilities to Refuse Disposal Districts

Section 44J. The agreement made under section forty-four C, or any amendment to such an agreement, may contain provisions authorizing any member city or town to sell, lease or license to the regional refuse disposal district any refuse disposal facility and any land appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith or any other property useful for the purposes of the district, and any such city or town may authorize such sale, lease or license accordingly, notwithstanding the provisions of section three of chapter forty or any other provisions of law to the contrary. In case of a sale, the price and time or times of payment and the method by which the cities and towns other than the selling city or town shall be assessed for such payment shall be set forth in the agreement or amendment; but in no case shall payments be made which shall extend over a period in excess of twenty years. In the case of a lease or license, the rental or license fee and terms of payment and assessment shall be set forth in the agreement or amendment. The lease or license may be for a term not in excess of twenty years, and may contain provisions for the extension of the lease or license for an additional term not in excess of twenty years at the option of the regional refuse disposal district committee.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44k (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44k - Bonds and Notes; Limit of Indebtedness

Section 44K. The provisions of sections sixteen to twenty-eight, inclusive, of chapter forty-four shall, so far as apt, apply to regional refuse disposal districts, but the provisions of section sixteen relating to the countersigning of bonds and notes and the provisions of section twenty-four relating to the countersigning and approval of notes and the certificates of the clerk relating thereto shall not apply to such districts. Any debt incurred by a regional refuse disposal district shall not be subject to the limit of indebtedness prescribed in section ten of chapter forty-four.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 44l (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 44l - Issuance of Debt Obligations to Pay for Project Costs

Section 44L. The rights and powers granted to cities and towns by the provisions of section twenty-eight C of chapter forty-four shall apply to regional refuse disposal districts and for the purpose of said section twenty-eight C the chief executive officer of a regional refuse disposal district shall be the regional refuse disposal district committee.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 45 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 45 - Recognizance; Permission to Designate an Agent

Section 45. The selectmen of a town required to enter into a recognizance may by an order or vote authorize any person to enter into the recognizance in its name and behalf. No surety shall be required thereon.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 46 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 46 - Certification of Claims

Section 46. Any person authorized to approve a claim against a town for labor, materials or service may, before approval thereof, require the claimant to certify under oath that all the articles for which claim is made have been furnished, or that all the labor or service has been performed, and that no commission, discount, bonus, reward or present of any kind has been received by, or promised to, or is expected by, any person on account of the same.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 47 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 47 - Town Seal; Establishment; Use

Section 47. Each town shall have a seal, established at a town meeting, to be kept by the town clerk. Papers or documents issued from any office or board of the town may be attested therewith. Cities which had an authorized seal in use on May tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, may continue to use such seal until changed by ordinance, and other cities shall by ordinance establish a seal of the city and designate the custodian thereof.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 48 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 48 - Establishment of Suitable Place to Keep Books; Penalty for Noncompliance; Custody of Books and Records

Section 48. Every town shall provide suitable places, to be approved by the supervisor of public records, for the preservation and convenient use of all books, reports and laws received from the commonwealth; and for every month's neglect so to do shall forfeit ten dollars. Said books, reports and laws shall be in the custody or control of the town clerk, unless the city council or selectmen shall by vote designate some other person to have said custody or control of all or part of the same.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 49 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 49 - Annual Town Reports; Publication; Penalty for Noncompliance

Section 49. The selectmen, before the annual town meeting, shall at the expense of the town make available the annual town report for the use of the inhabitants containing the report of the selectmen for the calendar or fiscal year preceding said meeting, the report of the school committee, statements in tabulated form prepared under section sixty of chapter forty-one unless otherwise printed as provided in said section, the annual report of the town accountant for the preceding fiscal year as provided in section sixty-one of chapter forty-one, the annual report of the town treasurer as provided in section thirty-five of chapter forty-one, and except as otherwise provided by vote or by-law of the town, of such other officers and boards as consider it expedient to make a report, the jury list as required by chapter two hundred and thirty-four, and such other matters as the law, or the town by vote or by-law, requires or as the selectmen consider expedient. If the selectmen neglect or refuse to make the annual report, they shall severally forfeit fifty dollars.  A town may by by-law provide for the printing of such fiscal year reports as it deems suitable within ninety days of the close of the fiscal year. A copy of such fiscal year reports shall be transmitted by the town clerk to the state library before the first day of November. A town may also by by-law provide for the printing of all reports of town officers and boards, committees and commissions on a fiscal year basis in place of the calendar year report required by this section.
MA Gen L ch 40 § 50 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns|Section 50 - Annual Town Report; Copy to State Library

Section 50. One copy or more of the annual report and of any special report of a town shall annually, on or before the last day of May, be transmitted by the town clerk to the state library, and until such transmission the publications distributed by the commonwealth shall be withheld from the town.