Massachusetts § 1 - Definitions

§ 1. Definitions

Section 1. In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:

''Revenue'', receipts from (1) the exercise of governmental power of taxation and police control; (2) donations, gifts, grants and subvention for governmental use; (3) performing services for compensation and from the operation or management of productive enterprises, investments and properties of government. Receipts from the sale or disposal of capital assets, loans, refunds and various temporary transactions are in the nature of non-revenue.

''Director'', director of accounts in the department of revenue.

''Majority vote'' and ''two thirds vote'', as applied to towns or districts, the vote of a majority or two thirds, respectively, of the voters present and voting at a meeting duly called, and, as applied to cities, the vote taken by yeas and nays of a majority or of two thirds, as the case may require, of all the members of each branch of the city government where there are two branches, or of all the members where there is a single branch of the city government, or of a majority or two thirds of the commissioners where the city government consists of a commission; and in every case subject to the approval of the mayor, where such approval is required by the charter of the city.

''Municipal finance oversight board'', a board composed of the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state auditor, and the director of accounts in the department of revenue, or their designees.

''Town'' shall not include city.

''District'' shall mean a fire, water, sewer, water pollution abatement, refuse disposal, light, or improvement district, or any other district, howsoever named, formed for the purpose of carrying out any of the aforementioned functions, whether established under general law or special act.

''Equalized valuation'' shall mean the equalized valuation of the aggregate property in a city or town subject to local taxation, as most recently reported by the commissioner of revenue to the general court under the provisions of section ten C of chapter fifty-eight.

''Sewage'' shall mean wastewater from homes, public buildings, commercial or industrial establishments, or any combination thereof, and shall include any surface or ground water that may be present therein.

''Sewage treatment and disposal facilities'' shall mean any wastewater treatment facility used for treating, neutralizing or stabilizing sewage including treatment or disposal plants; the necessary intercepting, outfall and outlet sewers; pumping stations integral to such facilities; and equipment and appurtenances related to the foregoing.