Speed limits in thickly settled or business districts

Cities and towns have the option to opt-in to MGL c. 90 § 17C, reducing the statutory speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph in thickly settled or business districts.

Overview

MGL c. 90 § 17C defines a thickly settled or business district as "the territory contiguous to any way which is built up with structures devoted to business, or the territory contiguous to any way where dwelling houses are situated at such distances as will average less than two hundred feet between them for a distance of a quarter of a mile or over."

In 2016, legislation was passed (Sections 193 and 194 of Chapter 218 of the Acts of 2016) to create two new sections to MGL c.90§17C.

• Section 193 allows a municipality to opt-in to Section 17C of Chapter 90 of the MGL, thereby reducing the statutory speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph on any or all city- or town-owned roadways within a thickly settled or business district. The legislation also requires cities and towns to notify MassDOT of these changes.
• Section 194 creates Section 18B of Chapter 90 of the MGL, allowing municipalities to establish regulatory 20 mph safety zones. Since this creates a regulatory speed limit, the MUTCD requires an engineering study prior to the establishment of the safety zone, and it should conform to the guidance found in the MassDOT Procedures for Speed Zoning.

If a municipality opts-in, it will not supersede any existing posted speed limit.  The legislation only affects streets that are currently governed by a statutory speed limit.  If an existing special speed regulation is in place, it will continue to govern.

MassDOT recommends that if a municipality opts-in to MGL c. 90 § 17C, that it does so on a city- or town-wide basis to avoid potential confusion for drivers. However, cities and towns do have the option to opt-in on a street-by-street basis. Once a municipality has opted-in to MGL c. 90 § 17C, it is required to notify MassDOT.

Ashburnham, MA Town Meeting 

ARTICLE 2: To see if the Town will vote to authorize a PILOT payment based on the annual kilowatt sales of the Light Department multiplied by a per kilowatt value. from the Municipal Light Plant Funds, to the town treasury, as authorized by its Light Board in accordance with Chapter 164 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth, or act in relation thereto. 

(Requested by the Municipal Light Department) 

SELECTMEN RECOMMEND: YES 

CAPITAL PLAN. COMM. RECOMMEND: N/A

 ADVISORY BD. RECOMMEND: YES 

TAX RATE IMPACT: N/A 

Brief Explanation: The PILOT agreement is tied to the Pilot payment in the annual kilowatt sales of the light department multiplied by a per kilowatt value. This was put in place for FY13 to ease the calculation and establish a standard process for future years. In FY13 it is estimated we will receive $66,345. ARTICLE 2 VOTED: On motion of Richard Sicard it was moved that articles 1 through 8 be approved by consent. Unanimous “YES”

 How things work:

You live in Templeton and receive a light bill from Templeton light dept., which is a town department. On that light bill, there is a service charge of $4.23 on residential bills, commercial and town buildings have a service charge of $8.91 on each bill. Town buildings with town water also pay a service charge each quarter of $101.23, so the general fund of the town is supporting the town water enterprise fund dept.

All invoices, bills, benefits, payroll w-2, etc., for the enterprise funds are all processed at town hall under general fund expense and by state law, the selectmen (select board) have to approve and sign off on the bills/invoice/payroll before the town treasurer can pay, as in write checks, do electronic transfers.

When town buildings use town electricity or town buildings use town water, they are getting billed for it, by enterprise funds, but when town processes bills, payroll, etc., for enterprise funds, the enterprise funds are not currently billed for those services.

 from The Gardner News:

Templeton highest paid employees.

First Name	Last Name	Department	Gross Wages
John	Driscoll	Light	$167,248.58
Derek	Hall	Police	$131,099.00
Thomas	Berry	Light	$129,692.43
Nicholas	Houston	Light	$120,814.87
Joseph	Parker	Light	$119,602.84
Tyler	Gearin	Light	$115,290.90
Michael	Bennett	Police	$114,151.69
Shane	Egan	Light	$114,134.78
Nicholas	Malnati	Police	$107,796.60
Eric	Smith	Police	$107,571.97
Kyle	Daniels	Fire	$107,067.45
John	White	Light	$106,806.24
Steven	Flis	Police	$104,427.40
Natan	Hagopian	Fire	$94,065.72
Scott	Schwinger	Water	$93,926.44
Robert	Szocik	DPW	$92,721.23
Jennifer	Belliveau	Light	$90,189.38
Jeffrey	Aldrich	Sewer	$89,513.85
Caleb	Matson	Police	$88,186.82
Andrew	Francis	Fire	$86,621.36

These are the top 20 earners in the town of Templeton in 2025.

 

FYI - the impact to the average single family home (SFH) relative to the FY’2026 tax rate if the following Overrides/amounts added to the tax levy had occurred, rounded up to the next penny. Some information to go with it, keep in the mind for FY’2026 that $1 on the tax rate raised $1,199,579 and the average SFH was valued at $378,285, and the tax rate was at $11.87 per thousand dollars of assessed value, making the average tax bill of a SFH around $4,490.24.

Below is an example of a 3 tiered approach to an override question.

Override Amount	Increase in Tax Rate ($/1000)	Increase in Tax Amount on the Average SFH	Result: Total Tax Amount on the Average SFH
$ 1,000,000	$ 0.83	$ 313.98	$ 4,804.22
$ 2,000,000	$ 1.67	$ 631.74	$ 5,121.98
$ 3,000,000	$ 2.50	$ 945.72	$ 5,435.96

The below link is to article on body camera and associated equipment grants.

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmma.us18.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3Dd974c04ac20a7b83c0bdb194e%26id%3Dfdb1ce8b70%26e%3D97b45a867e&data=05%7C02%7C%7C266e23c44b784e9188ae08de810288c6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639090045098906859%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=cuc6fUH0JQQqSzZcVNoVpXuhALpARm%2FmToMNwd7JuHA%3D&reserved=0