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The Town of Belmont is a municipal government incorporated under Massachusetts General Laws. Its executive branch is governed by a three member Board of Selectmen elected at large, who appoint a Town Administrator to manage the daily affairs of the Town. An independently elected School Committee and its appointed School Superintendent are responsible for the policy and operation of the Town's public school system. The legislative branch is vested in a representative town meeting, consisting of thirty-six town meeting members elected from each of the Town's eight precincts (for a total of 288), along with certain members ex-officio. The Town Meeting convenes annually in the spring under the direction of a Town Moderator to appropriate the ensuing fiscal year's budget and to pass local by laws.
A variety of independently elected bodies and bodies appointed by the Board of Selectmen or the Town Moderator provide policy, advisory, and regulatory services to the Town. Over one-hundred individuals serve the town in this capacity, most without any compensation. Departments who provide public programs and services directly to Town citizens are managed by full time professionals and staffed by qualified and dedicated employees.
Belmont is one of 351 municipalities of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Governor of the Commonwealth is Deval Patrick.. Other key Constitutional officers include Attorney General Martha Coakley, Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci, Secretary of State William Francis Galvin, and Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill. Belmont is
represented in the House of Representatives in the 24th Middlesex District by William N. Brownsberger. In the Senate, Belmont is represented in the 2nd Middlesex and Suffolk district by Steven Tolman.
Belmont is one of the 54 cities and towns in Middlesex County. County government in Massachusetts is limited to the operation of correctional facilities and registries of deeds and probate. The offices of Middlesex county government are located at 40 Thorndike Street in Cambridge, and may be reached by calling 617-494-4000.
Belmont belongs to several regional governmental entities. In most cases, each participating community has a seat on a governing policy board or an advisory board with fiscal authority. The most significant regional authorities include the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which provides public bus, subway, and commuter rail transportation services in greater Boston; the Department of
Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which operates a network of parkways, parks, and land reservations in metropolitan Boston; the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), which provides wholesale water and wastewater treatment services for several greater Boston communities, and; the Northeast Solid Waste Committee (NESWC), which contracts for solid waste disposal services on behalf of twenty-three cities and towns in northeast Massachusetts. The Town of Belmont is also a member of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), a regional planning agency.
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