Massachusetts Section 33B Local Option: May 1–July 15 Transfer Window

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44, Section 33B lets cities and towns shift appropriated money between departments at the end of the fiscal year without calling a town meeting or putting the full city budget process back in motion. These Massachusetts Section 33B year-end transfers are available only during a narrow window — May 1 through July 15 — and they cannot touch school department or municipal light department appropriations. Who signs off depends on whether you are a town or a city, and the rules changed meaningfully in 2016.¹

How Towns Make a Year-End Transfer

In towns, the streamlined procedure requires two approvals and nothing more. The select board votes to make the transfer, and the finance committee (or a similar advisory body established under Chapter 39, Section 16) must concur.¹ Both bodies have to agree. If either refuses, the transfer dies at that stage and the only remaining path is a town meeting vote.

A town meeting itself can transfer any previously appropriated amount to any other lawful purpose by majority vote, at any time in the fiscal year. That authority sits alongside Section 33B and is not limited to the year-end window. Section 33B exists so that routine year-end rebalancing does not require convening the whole town.

How Cities Make a Year-End Transfer

Section 33B(a) gives cities three different tiers of transfer authority, each with its own voting threshold.¹

Within a single department, the city council can transfer among that department’s appropriations by majority vote on the mayor’s recommendation, at any time during the year.
Between different departments during the last two months of the fiscal year or the first 15 days of the new fiscal year, the city council can transfer by majority vote on the mayor’s recommendation.
Between different departments at any other time, the transfer requires a two-thirds city council vote, the mayor’s recommendation, and written approval from the department losing the funds.

The year-end window is the simplified path. Outside that window, the higher vote threshold and the losing department’s written consent apply.

The May 1 Through July 15 Window

Massachusetts municipalities run on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year. The streamlined Section 33B authority is available only during the last two months of that year, which is May and June, when departments can see where they will finish.

The statute adds a 15-day grace period into July. Transfers can be executed through July 15, but only to cover expenses incurred before June 30 and chargeable to the prior fiscal year’s budget.¹ This exists because late invoices and final reports often arrive after the books have technically closed. Past July 15, any adjustment to the prior year’s budget must go through a supplemental appropriation. The deadline also protects the Department of Revenue’s free cash certification timeline, which depends on finalized balance sheets.

School and Municipal Light Department Funds Are Off Limits

Appropriations for a school department or a municipal light department cannot be moved through the streamlined year-end procedure in either a town or a city. The statute carves out funds appropriated “for the use of a municipal light department or a school department” from the simplified process.¹

Transfers involving these departments are not impossible, but they take more. In a city, a transfer to or from the school department needs school committee approval, a transfer involving the municipal light department needs light board approval, and the transaction has to clear the two-thirds city council vote rather than the simplified majority. In a town, any transfer touching school or light department funds has to go through town meeting.

No Other Approvals Are Required

Once the approvals written into the statute are in hand, nothing else is needed. Section 33B states that “no approval other than that expressly provided in this section shall be required for any transfer under this section.”¹ An individual department head cannot block a transfer by refusing to consent, and no additional board or commission review is required beyond what the statute names. For a town, that means the select board and the finance committee. For a city using the year-end path, that means the mayor’s recommendation and a city council majority.

What the 2016 Municipal Modernization Act Changed

If you are working from older guidance or a finance committee handbook that predates 2016, check it against the current statute. The Municipal Modernization Act rewrote Section 33B and removed two features that older summaries still describe.

First, the three percent cap is gone. Transfers used to be limited to three percent of the giving department’s annual appropriation; there is no longer a percentage ceiling. Second, the acceptance requirement is gone. Towns and cities no longer have to vote to adopt Section 33B as a local option. The Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services confirmed that the 2016 amendments “eliminate the limits on the types and amounts of appropriation transfers that can be made under the alternative transfer procedure from May 1 to July 15.”² The authority now runs directly to every city and town.

Section 33B Transfers vs. Reserve Fund Transfers

Section 33B is often confused with the reserve fund transfer under Chapter 40, Section 6. They are different tools.

A reserve fund is a dedicated appropriation set aside at an annual or special town meeting to cover extraordinary or unforeseen expenses, and it cannot exceed five percent of the prior year’s tax levy.³ The finance committee alone votes transfers out of the reserve fund — the select board plays no role — and these transfers can happen at any point in the fiscal year.

Section 33B moves money straight from one existing departmental appropriation to another. There is no dedicated fund, the giving department has to have a real surplus, and the authority only exists in the year-end window with both the select board and the finance committee on board. A town with an active reserve fund and healthy departmental balances has both tools: the reserve fund for mid-year emergencies, Section 33B for year-end rebalancing.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44 Section 33B
2
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. DLS Informational Guideline Release – Section 33B Amendments
3
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40 Section 6