Glossary

Words that come up in agendas, minutes, and their summaries, and what they mean.

abatement: A reduction or cancellation of a property tax bill, granted by the assessors, for example after an error in the assessment.
ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law on access for people with disabilities.
CBA: Collective bargaining agreement: a contract between the city or town and a union of its employees, setting pay and working conditions.
CDBG: Community Development Block Grant: federal money, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for housing and neighborhood projects that serve low- and moderate-income residents.
CIP: Capital Improvement Program: the plan for buildings, roads, equipment, and other long-lasting purchases over the next several years, and how to pay for them.
COLA: Cost-of-living adjustment: a raise in pay or a pension to keep up with rising prices.
Committee of the Whole: The full council or board meeting as a committee, to discuss a matter before voting on it at a regular meeting.
consent agenda: Routine items, such as minutes and reports, voted on together in one motion without discussion. A member can ask to take any of them up separately.
CPA: Community Preservation Act. A local property tax surcharge, with state matching money, that pays for open space, historic preservation, affordable housing, and recreation.
CPC: Community Preservation Committee, which reviews requests for Community Preservation Act money and recommends how to spend it.
creditable service: Time worked that counts toward a public employee's pension.
demolition delay: Under the city's Demolition Delay Ordinance, the Historic District Commission can delay a permit to demolish a building more than 50 years old for up to 12 months, if it finds the building historically significant and preferably preserved.
executive session: A part of a public meeting closed to the public. State law allows it only for specific reasons, such as lawsuits, negotiations, or personnel matters.
first reading: The first time a council or board takes up an ordinance or other measure. It usually votes on it at a later meeting.
free cash: Money left over from the last fiscal year, once the state certifies it, that the council or town meeting can vote to spend or save.
levy: The total property tax a city or town raises in a year. Proposition 2½ limits how much it can grow each year: the levy limit.
M.G.L.: Massachusetts General Laws, the state's laws.
MACRIS: Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, the state's inventory of historic buildings and places.
MBTA Communities: The state law (Section 3A of the Zoning Act) requiring cities and towns near MBTA service to allow multifamily housing by right in at least one district.
mill rate: The property tax rate, in dollars for each $1,000 of a property's assessed value. A mill is a tenth of a cent.
Notice of Intent: An application to the Conservation Commission, under the state's Wetlands Protection Act, for work in or near wetlands, rivers, or the coast.
Open Meeting Law: The state law (M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Sections 18 to 25) that requires public boards to meet in public, post notice of their meetings in advance, and keep minutes.
Order of Conditions: The Conservation Commission's permit for work in or near wetlands, with the conditions the work must follow.
PERAC: Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission, the state agency that oversees Massachusetts public retirement systems.
PRIM: Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which manages the PRIT fund.
PRIT: Pension Reserves Investment Trust, the state-run investment fund that local retirement systems can invest in.
quitclaim deed: A deed in which the city or town gives up whatever claim it has to a property, such as one it took for unpaid taxes.
receive and file: To accept a letter, report, or other document into the record, without taking any other action on it.
Select Board: The board of three to five elected residents that runs a town between town meetings: it sets policy, hires the town manager or administrator, and calls town meeting. Also called the Board of Selectmen or the Selectboard.
special permit: Permission from a board the zoning names, such as the Zoning Board of Appeals or the Planning Board, for a use or project the zoning allows only with that board's approval.
superannuation: Retirement based on age and years of service, rather than disability.
tabled: Set aside by a vote, to take up later. A tabled item comes back when the board votes to take it off the table.
TIF: Tax increment financing: a district where some of the new property tax from development is set aside, for public projects or for the development itself.
town meeting: A meeting of a town's voters that acts as its legislature: it votes on the budget, local laws, and the other articles of the warrant. In a representative town meeting, elected members vote.
variance: Permission from the zoning board to use or build on a property in a way the zoning doesn't allow, such as closer to a lot line, because of a hardship particular to the property.
warrant article: One item on the warrant, the list of what a town meeting will vote on. Each article is voted on separately.
ZBA: Zoning Board of Appeals.