Town Edition
Middlesex County
Tyngsborough, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Tyngsborough decided to build a new fire headquarters twice this spring, and got two different answers. At the Annual Town Meeting the room voted Article 22 through, which is the two thirds a debt exclusion needs before it can go any further. Then on May 19, 2026 the same question went on the ballot, and 2,189 voters answered it 986 yes to 1,110 no. Both votes were legal, both counted, and the second one settled it. Two weeks later the Town Manager was back in front of the Select Board asking it to send the building committee away to design something cheaper. That is the shape of power in this town: a big borrowing has to win in a hall where any registered voter can stand up and speak, and then again on a paper ballot. The same 2,189 people filled fifteen town seats across eleven contests on that ballot. This guide shows you where those rooms are and how to get into them.
Tyngsborough at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Middlesex. Tyngsborough sits on both banks of the Merrimack River in the northwest corner of the county, 16.798 square miles of land and 1.31 of water, bordering Lowell, Chelmsford, Dracut, Groton and Dunstable, and touching New Hampshire at Hudson, Pelham and Nashua.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Colin Loiselle
- Schools: Tyngsborough Public Schools, about 1,546 students across three schools, led by Superintendent Michael Woodlock.
How Tyngsborough’s Government Works
Tyngsborough runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Tyngsborough is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Tyngsborough is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Manager.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
7 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Manager and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets at 6:00 p.m. every other Monday in the Community Room at Town Hall, 25 Bryant Lane. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The Moderator, Robert Kydd, presides.
- Town elections: Tyngsborough votes in May, across four precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Tuesday, May 19. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years, plus any special the Commonwealth calls. Tyngsborough voted in a Special State Primary on February 3, 2026 and a Special State Election on March 3, 2026 for its seat in the state Senate.
Explore the Tyngsborough Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Tyngsborough HistoryDunstable, the ferries and the bridge
- DemographicsWho lives in Tyngsborough
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataTyngsborough schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Middlesex County, and that includes Tyngsborough. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Tyngsborough
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets at 6:00 p.m. every other Monday in the Community Room at Town Hall, 25 Bryant Lane, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Know your members. Five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. The board’s own agenda sets aside Citizen and Business Time: you get three minutes, or two if more than six people want to be heard, and the whole period runs fifteen minutes unless the board votes itself more.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 25 Bryant Lane, Tyngsborough, MA 01879. Main line 978-649-2300, Select Board and Town Manager’s office 978-649-2300 ext. 100.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-649-2300 ext. 129, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at tyngsboroughma.gov.
- Public schools: Tyngsborough Public Schools, 978-649-7488, tyngsboroughps.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.