THE ADVOCACY GROUP representing all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts fired a warning flare up to Beacon Hill last month when it published a detailed report likening the budget woes municipalities face to a “perfect storm.”  

But how did communities get to this point? What kind of solutions do they want to see, and what would that mean for taxpayers?  

This week, The Codcast hosts a panel discussion unpacking municipal finance issues with a trio of guests: Massachusetts Municipal Association executive director Adam Chapdelaine, Amesbury mayor Kassandra Gove, and Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance executive director Paul Craney.  

The report from the Massachusetts Municipal Association found that unrestricted general government aid to cities and towns has dropped over the past two decades once adjusted for inflation, forcing communities to foot the rising bill for services with budgets that are constrained by a cap on property tax increases.  

In Chapdelaine’s view, the current crisis is a mix of longer-term factors that have been building for decades and the “incendiary pressure of significant inflation” in recent years.  

“It is a little bit of a mix of things that have been in place for a long time but have likely intensified, and some other things that have had more ebbs and flows that are now just ebbs in the wrong direction,” he said.  

That has big implications for constituents. Municipalities are responsible for K-12 schools, local police and fire departments, public works, libraries, and other important services.  

“There’s this friction for the taxpayer that their taxes are going up and they’re paying a lot here, but they are getting less for that dollar,” Gove said.  

In Amesbury, officials pursued a $6 million Proposition 2½ override, asking voters to hike property taxes in exchange for restoring cut educator positions, preventing public safety cuts, and stabilizing budgets for upcoming years.  

The measure failed, with about 58 percent of votes in opposition. (This episode of The Codcast was recorded before the election.)  

Prop 2½, a law voters approved in 1980, limits the amount that cities and towns can increase property taxes each year. It’s landed back in the spotlight in recent weeks, especially after Boston mayor Michelle Wu called for repealing the measure.  

The law still has some vocal supporters, though, including Craney.  

“Prop 2½ is the reason why people can afford to stay in Massachusetts,” he said. “It’s one of the hallmark pro-taxpayer laws in the entire country. It’s so well-regarded and esteemed that other states are told to go do Prop 2½ as a model.”  

On this episode, guests debate how much of the strain is a result of recent developments and how much stems instead from structural factors (6:35), assess the history and future of Proposition 2½ (13:30), and consider who has the power to solve the problem (26:40).