Massachussets municipal finance is governed entirely by a 1980s proposition 2.5. A municipality cannot raise their total levy limit beyond 2.5% YOY without voters approving an override or debt exclusion. For a long time the cost of municipal services have risen much faster than 2.5% and so 2 things tend to happen. Ch70 means a town must fund education at a specified level. So that means a town either continues to cut services like public works, infrastructure ect or they periodically go to voters and ask for overrides. What's more, these overrides compound by raising the base limit that continues to grow 2.5% YOY into the future. Poorer towns tend to suffer under this model more as it can be a much bigger ask to go to voters to raise property taxes than in affluent towns. IMO this is one of the larger sources of inequality in MA government, as it directly and indirectly impacts almost every part of municipal government service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Massachusetts_Proposition_2%C2%BD