2023 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 57 - Local Licenses and Permits; Denial, Revocation or Suspension for Failure to Pay Municipal Taxes or Charges

Section 57. Any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section, may by by-law or ordinance deny any application for, or revoke or suspend a building permit, or any local license or permit including renewals and transfers issued by any board, officer, department for any person, corporation or business enterprise, who has neglected or refused to pay any local taxes, fees, assessments, betterments or any other municipal charges, including amounts assessed under the provisions of section twenty-one D or with respect to any activity, event or other matter which is the subject of such license or permit and which activity, event or matter is carried out or exercised or is to be carried out or exercised on or about real estate whose owner has neglected or refused to pay any local taxes, fees, assessments, betterments or any other municipal charges. Such by-law or ordinances shall provide that:
(a) The tax collector or other municipal official responsible for records of all municipal taxes, assessments, betterments and other municipal charges, hereinafter referred to as the tax collector, shall annually, and may periodically, furnish to each department, board, commission or division, hereinafter referred to as the licensing authority, that issues licenses or permits including renewals and transfers, a list of any person, corporation, or business enterprise, hereinafter referred to as the party, that has neglected or refused to pay any local taxes, fees, assessments, betterments or other municipal charges, and that such party has not filed in good faith a pending application for an abatement of such tax or a pending petition before the appellate tax board.
(b) The licensing authority may deny, revoke or suspend any license or permit, including renewals and transfers of any party whose name appears on said list furnished to the licensing authority from the tax collector or with respect to any activity, event or other matter which is the subject of such license or permit and which activity, event or matter is carried out or exercised or is to be carried out or exercised on or about real estate owned by any party whose name appears on said list furnished to the licensing authority from the tax collector; provided, however, that written notice is given to the party and the tax collector, as required by applicable provisions of law, and the party is given a hearing, to be held not earlier than fourteen days after said notice. Said list shall be prima facie evidence for denial, revocation or suspension of said license or permit to any party. The tax collector shall have the right to intervene in any hearing conducted with respect to such license denial, revocation or suspension. Any findings made by the licensing authority with respect to such license denial, revocation or suspension shall be made only for the purposes of such proceeding and shall not be relevant to or introduced in any other proceeding at law, except for any appeal from such license denial, revocation or suspension. Any license or permit denied, suspended or revoked under this section shall not be reissued or renewed until the license authority receives a certificate issued by the tax collector that the party is in good standing with respect to any and all local taxes, fees, assessments, betterments or other municipal charges, payable to the municipality as the date of issuance of said certificate.
(c) Any party shall be given an opportunity to enter into a payment agreement, thereby allowing the licensing authority to issue a certificate indicating said limitations to the license or permit and the validity of said license shall be conditioned upon the satisfactory compliance with said agreement. Failure to comply with said agreement shall be grounds for the suspension or revocation of said license or permit; provided, however, that the holder be given notice and a hearing as required by applicable provisions of law.
(d) The board of selectmen may waive such denial, suspension or revocation if it finds there is no direct or indirect business interest by the property owner, its officers or stockholders, if any, or members of his immediate family, as defined in section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight A in the business or activity conducted in or on said property.
This section shall not apply to the following licenses and permits: open burning; section thirteen of chapter forty-eight; bicycle permits; section eleven A of chapter eighty-five; sales of articles for charitable purposes, section thirty-three of chapter one hundred and one; children work permits, section sixty-nine of chapter one hundred and forty-nine; clubs, associations dispensing food or beverage licenses, section twenty-one E of chapter one hundred and forty; dog licenses, section one hundred and thirty-seven of chapter one hundred and forty; fishing, hunting, trapping license, section twelve of chapter one hundred and thirty-one; marriage licenses, section twenty-eight of chapter two hundred and seven and theatrical events, public exhibition permits, section one hundred and eighty-one of chapter one hundred and forty.
A city or town may exclude any local license or permit from this section by by-law or ordinance.