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City and town clerks, managers say municipal address management and staffing key to accurate 2030 count
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Summary
Officials from Watertown, Worcester, Cambridge, Belmont and small rural towns told the Senate committee that local permitting, single authoritative address lists, staffing, and training are critical to avoid misses in the 2030 Census — especially for ADUs, under‑roof conversions and group quarters.
Local officials testifying Sept. 22 told the Senate Committee on the Census that municipal operational practices — who assigns an address, how permitting data flows, and whether a single authoritative address list exists — materially affect the state's ability to produce a complete address list for LUCA and the 2030 Census. "We have a lot of 2 family zoning districts with single family houses, so it's very easy to convert a single to a 2 family," City Manager George Proakis of Watertown said. "Those are the next category of things that can often easily get missed." City and town clerks repeatedly urged more training and repeated outreach to municipal offices, citing turnover and vacancies as a risk: "There's a lack of experience on the ground. There are a lot of vacancies in these offices," said Grace Banash, town clerk (Groton, formerly in Shutesbury). She recommended accessible, on‑demand training recordings and practical tools for small towns. Municipal case summaries from the hearing: - Watertown: City Manager George Proakis emphasized the role of public works for address creation and the need to coordinate DPW lists, assessors and voter registration so new multiunit developments transmit unit numbering. - Worcester: City Clerk Nico Vannielli described a multi‑department LUCA committee (clerk, GIS, public safety, planning, assessing) that identified roughly 345 new blocks in 2016–2020 and hired a specialist to maintain address lists. - Cambridge: GIS Manager Jeff Amero outlined a multi‑database workflow (master address list, elections, permitting, assessing, UMDI inputs) and reported a 2020 LUCA submission that added several thousand addresses; Cambridge assigns new addresses through its city engineer and DPW before updating the master address table. - Belmont: Town Clerk Ellen Cushman described a local bylaw and addressing regulations that assign address authority to the town engineer and require permits as the trigger for address changes; the town notifies Notify911 and postal/state systems after assignment. Why it matters: municipal staff pointed to repeated problem areas that historically produce undercounts — off‑campus students, hidden units (basement/subfloor conversions), accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and group‑quarters facilities. Multiple witnesses asked for continued state support from the Secretary of the Commonwealth and UMass Donahue Institute for trainings, toolkits, and a clear channel to receive LUCA materials. Ending: witnesses asked the legislature and state agencies to sustain and expand training and technical assistance, especially for small and rural towns without GIS or permitting capacity.
