Massachusetts

Decision instrument

The legislature authorizes state bonds. A city or town authorizes its own debt by a two-thirds vote.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? Chapter 29 and Chapter 44 of the General Laws. State bonds issued under Chapter 29 are general obligations, full faith and credit, unless the face of the bond says otherwise. There is no statewide voter referendum in that rule. Chapter 44, Section 7, lets a city or town incur debt by a two-thirds vote of its legislative body. A debt exclusion, which lets the tax levy rise for that one debt, is a different vote: a majority of the electors, after the question is placed on the ballot.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? The state’s debt is in the annual report. The statutory direct-debt limit is a different cut from the general obligation principal. City and town dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

A city or town may not authorize debt above 5% of equalized valuation. The state’s fiscal 2025 direct-debt limit was $32.188 billion.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? Chapter 44, Section 10. With approval of the municipal finance oversight board, a city or town may go above 5% but not above 10%. Some purposes, including certain school buildings, sit outside that cap by statute. Chapter 29, Section 60A, grows the state’s direct-debt limit by 5% a year. At June 30, 2025, debt counted against that limit was $29.090 billion. That is not the same figure as the $29.630 billion of general obligation principal.

Conflict rule

A municipal employee may not act on a matter in which they have a financial interest. There is no percent test.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? G.L. c. 268A, § 19. The ban covers the employee, immediate family, a partner, and a business where the employee is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee. A written determination from the appointing official can allow participation if the interest is not substantial enough to affect the work. A general policy shared with a substantial segment of the town is not a violation. State employees are under a parallel rule in section 6.

Geography

Fourteen counties. Several county governments were abolished.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? FIPS 25001 through 25027. Census marks Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Norfolk, and Plymouth as functioning. The others are not functioning county governments. Nantucket is the town and the county together. Essex has two shire towns, Salem and Lawrence. Middlesex has two, Cambridge and Lowell. Dollar rows stay blank. Cities and towns borrow.

Primary money record

$29.630 billion general obligation bonds.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, year ended June 30, 2025. Principal, excluding premiums: $29,629,925,000. A year earlier it was $27,835,248,000. Of the June 30, 2025 principal, $29.374 billion is fixed rate and $256 million is variable rate. Authorized and unissued debt, measured on the statutory basis, is $52.677 billion. That is permission to borrow. It is not bonds outstanding.

Who pays the coupon

Full faith and credit. Debt service is appropriated from governmental funds.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? The schedule of governmental debt other than School Building Authority debt shows $1.121 billion of principal and $1.533 billion of interest due in fiscal 2026. That schedule also includes special-obligation bonds and grant-anticipation notes, so it is not a general-obligation-only coupon. A separate $100 million direct placement has $3 million of interest due that year and no principal.

Other obligors

Special-obligation bonds, excluding grant-anticipation notes: $4.420 billion. Do not add them.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? They are paid from pledged revenue, not from the general obligation pledge. Grant-anticipation notes are another $134 million. School Building Authority bonds are $5.267 billion, paid from a dedicated sales tax. Business-type revenue bonds are $5.943 billion. The report’s $45.395 billion of all bonded debt adds those piles together. The card does not.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.