The Overview
Water customers in the Holmes Park Water District in Westminster, Massachusetts, now get their service from the town instead of a separate district that charged its own rates and taxes. Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed Senate Bill 3160 on Aug. 5, and the law took effect immediately, ending a district the Legislature created in 1963.
The change started with Westminster voters. A special town meeting in November 2024 took up a warrant article to dissolve the district and move its water service under the town. Because the district was created by state law, Westminster then needed the Legislature to approve a home rule petition, a request from a community for a law that applies only to it.
What the Law Does
The law repeals the 1963 act that created the district and hands its job of supplying water within its boundaries to Westminster. The district’s pipes, equipment, facilities, money, debts and property all transfer to the town and become part of Westminster’s water system, run by its public works commission.
Customers who still owe the district for water rates or other charges now owe that money to the town, which can collect it. The district’s cash must first pay off its outstanding debts, with anything left going into the town’s water fund, an account that keeps water revenue separate from other town money. Any district land protected under Article 97 of the state constitution, which guards land set aside for conservation and natural resources, must stay protected under town ownership.
Legislative Status
Sen. Peter Durant (R-Spencer) sponsored the bill, joined by Rep. Kim Ferguson (R-Holden) as a petitioner. The Senate approved a rewritten version July 2, replacing the original bill filed in January 2025. Both chambers gave the bill final approval July 30 without a single no vote, 158-0 in the House and 39-0 in the Senate, and sent it to Healey that day.
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