Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 44, § 33 (2026)

Power of council to add to appropriation; conditions; limitations

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 33. In case of the failure of the mayor to transmit to the city council a written recommendation for an appropriation for any purpose not included in the annual budget, which is deemed necessary by the council, after having been so requested by vote thereof, said council, after the expiration of seven days from such vote, upon its own initiative may make such appropriation by a vote of at least two thirds of its members, and shall in all cases clearly specify the amount to be expended for each particular purpose, but no appropriation may be voted hereunder so as to fix specific salaries of employees under the direction of boards elected by the people, other than the city council.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1922–2006 · leading case: Daly v. Mayor of Medford, 241 Mass. 336 (Mass. 1922).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Daly v. Mayor of Medford, 241 Mass. 336 (Mass. 1922). “This action by the board of aldermen was taken pursuant to G. L. c. 44, § 33, which empowers the city council "In case of failure of the mayor .”

Burt v. Mun. Council of Taunton, 176 N.E. 511 (Mass. 1931). “It was not adopted in accordance with G. L. c. 44, § 33. The procedure there marked out is that the municipal council might, if it deemed an appropriation for a pumping engine necessary, by vote request the mayor to transmit a recommendation for such appropriation and, in case…”

Whalen v. City of Holyoke, 434 N.E.2d 650 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). “We recognize that checks and balances which are built into the municipal finance act limit the power of the mayor in certain respects.”

Middlesex Cnty. v. Middlesex Cnty. Advisory Bd., 421 Mass. 477 (Mass. 1995). “G. L. c. 44, § 33. We reject the plaintiffs’ argument that the omission of the word “delete” from G.”

Southbridge Sch. Comm. v. Southbridge Town Council, 20 Mass. L. Rptr. 589 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006). “In its motion for summary judgment, dated October 25, 2005 and filed with this court on January 9, 2006, the Committee had relied upon the provisions of G.L.c. 44, §33, which, in a city, requires department approval prior to any interdepartmental transfer of…”

Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. v. City of Lynn, 474 N.E.2d 196 (Mass. App. Ct. 1985). “*975 We need not decide whether the city council’s approval of the appropriation order over the mayor’s veto is controlled by G. L. c. 44, § 33, or by § 31 of the city’s charter, because in either event the city council failed to follow the procedure imposed by the statute and…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.