History

Origin of Massachusetts Finance Committees

In 1870, a group of Quincy citizens banded together to restore financial order in their municipality, creating the Commonwealth's first finance committee.

In 1910, the Massachusetts courts ruled that a municipal finance committee was legal (Sinclair v. Fall River, 198 Mass 248).

In that same year, the Massachusetts General Court also acknowledged the need for municipal finance committees state-wide, requiring all but the smallest municipalities to establish such committees to assist in dealing with emerging municipal challenges (St 1910, Ch. 130, s 2).

Several additional legislative assists (i.e., St 1923, Ch. 388 and St 1929, Ch.270), reinforced the mandated or permitted existence of municipal finance committees.

[Association of Town Finance Committees, Finance Committee Handbook]