Handbooks

The 250-page handbook presents a comprehensive view of the roles and responsibilities of select board members in Massachusetts. The handbook is divided into 11 chapters, on topics such as administrative and regulatory responsibilities; financial management; human resources, personnel and labor relations; and land use and community development. The handbook covers topics such as complying with the open meeting and ethics laws, making appointments, holding public meetings and hearings, town meeting, Proposition 2½, insurance, tax rates, collective bargaining, legal representation, public safety, public works, and the role of a town manager or administrator.

Click here for the Massachusetts Municipal Association Handbook for Selectmen - Fourth Edition

The ATFC’s Finance Committee Handbook covers the basic roles and responsibilities of finance committee members as well as complex issues. It is designed to assist all members of finance committees and provides useful information to other local officials who are involved in municipal finance and budget matters.

In October 2021, the ATFC released the Finance Committee Handbook in digital form. The new edition includes many updates that reflect passage of the Municipal Modernization Act in 2016.

Click here for the ATFC's Finance Committee Handbook