2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance › Section 53e1/2 - Revolving Funds

Section 53E1/2. Notwithstanding section 53, a city or town may authorize by by-law or ordinance the use of 1 or more revolving funds by 1 or more municipal agencies, boards, departments or offices, which shall be accounted for separately from all other monies in the city or town and to which shall be credited any fees, charges or other receipts from the departmental programs or activities supported by the revolving fund. Expenditures may be made from such revolving fund without further appropriation, subject to the provisions of this section; provided, however, that expenditures shall not be made or liabilities incurred from any such revolving fund in excess of the balance of the fund or in excess of the total authorized expenditures from such fund, and no expenditures shall be made unless approved in accordance with sections 41, 42, 52 and 56 of chapter 41.
Interest earned on any revolving fund balance shall be treated as general fund revenue of the city or town. No revolving fund may be established under this section for receipts of a municipal water or sewer department, a municipal hospital, a cable television access service or facility or for receipts reserved by law or as authorized by law for expenditure for a particular purpose. Revolving fund expenditures shall not be made to pay wages or salaries for full-time employees unless the revolving fund is also charged for the costs of fringe benefits associated with the wages or salaries so paid; provided, however, that such prohibition shall not apply to wages or salaries paid to full-time or part-time employees who are employed as drivers providing transportation for public school students; provided further, that only that portion of a revolving fund which is attributable to transportation fees may be used to pay the wages or salaries of those employees who are employed as drivers providing transportation for public school students; and provided further, that any such wages or salaries so paid shall be reported in the budget submitted for the next fiscal year.
A revolving fund shall be established pursuant to this section by by-law or ordinance. The by-law or ordinance shall specify for each fund: (1) the programs or activities for which the revolving fund may be expended; (2) the departmental receipts in connection with those programs or activities that shall be credited to the revolving fund; (3) the board, department or officer authorized to expend from such fund; and (4) any reporting or other requirements the city or town may impose. The establishment of any fund shall be made not later than the beginning of the fiscal year in which the fund shall begin. Notwithstanding this section, whenever, during the course of any fiscal year, any new revenue source becomes available for the establishment of a revolving fund under this section, such a fund may be established in accordance with this section upon certification by the city auditor, town accountant, or other officer having similar duties that the revenue source was not used in computing the most recent tax levy.
The city or town shall, on or before July 1 of each year, vote on the limit on the total amount that may be expended from each revolving fund established under this section. In any fiscal year, the limit on the amount that may be spent from a revolving fund may be increased with the approval of the city council and mayor in a city or with the approval of the board of selectmen and finance committee in a town.
Upon termination of a revolving fund, the balance in the fund at the end of that fiscal year shall revert to surplus revenue at the close of the fiscal year.
The director of accounts may issue guidelines further regulating revolving funds established pursuant to this section.