Many Massachusetts towns have availed themselves of the provisions of the CPA. Recently, neighboring towns such as Braintree and Needham have voted to place the CPA on the ballot.

Town Meeting has previously voted against placing the CPA on the ballot. Since then, approximately 60 cities and towns have adopted the CPA, providing the committee with additional information to consider in its deliberations. The information below is offered to help in the consideration of the warrant article in this year’s Fall Town Meeting.

The CPA’s enabling law, MGL Chapter 44B, Section 2, defines community preservation as "the acquisition, creation and preservation of open space, the acquisition, creation and preservation of historic structures and landscapes and the creation and preservation of community housing."

What is the Community Preservation Act?

CPA enables towns to set up a Community Preservation Fund to be used for:

• The acquisition, creation and preservation of open space;
• The acquisition, preservation, rehabilitation and restoration of historic resources;
• The acquisition, creation and preservation of land for recreational use;
• The creation, preservation and support of community housing; and
• The rehabilitation or restoration of open space, land for recreational use and community housing that is acquired or created as provided in this section.

CPA funds do not need to be used in the year they are collected. They can be set aside for future uses. The statute mandates that at least 10% of the CPA funds be used for open space, 10% for housing, and 10% for historic purposes. A maximum of 5% can be used for administering the CPA. Beyond these required disbursements, it is left to the residents of Randolph to decide how much of the remaining 65-70% of the funds they would like to spend on the three purposes identified above or for recreation (ball fields, hiking or biking trails, etc). For example, a municipality could allocate the remaining 70 percent of the annual revenue to one purpose, spread it evenly among all four, or set the funds aside for future spending. Each year, the municipality can modify the spending mix for the remaining 70 percent of the fund.

Where do CPA Funds come from?

Funding for a town’s Community Preservation Fund comes from two sources:

• A surcharge on property taxes up to 3%.
• Matching funds from the state according to a formula set forth in MGL Chapter 44B. Since CPA’s inception, the state has been matching local contributions at 100% although this percentage may change as more towns take advantage of the fund source. Matching funds are disbursed in October for revenues collected in the previous fiscal year.

State funds for CPA are raised through fees on real estate transactions. Each time a Randolph resident pays recording fees for a home purchase or refinance, they are contributing to the state’s CPA fund. To date, Randolph residents have contributed several hundred thousand dollars to the fund. Presently, the state has more than $126 million dollars in the fund, and has been disbursing approximately $27 million annually to cities and towns that have adopted CPA. Randolph residents pay the surcharge whether or not Randolph adopts CPA.

MGL Chapter 44B allows three exemptions, by local option, from the property tax surcharge:

• Property owned and occupied as a domicile by a person who would qualify for low income housing or low or moderate income senior housing.
• $100,000 of the assessed valuation of Class One, residential parcels
• Class Three, commercial, and Class Four, industrial, properties in cities or towns with classified tax rate

A town adopts the CPA by local option. To take effect, both Town Meeting and referendum approval are required. An affirmative vote of the CPA article by Town Meeting will put a CPA referendum on the ballot for voters to decide.

Can a town rescind CPA?

Yes. However, once a town adopts the CPA, it must remain in effect for 5 years. After 5 years, a town can vote to reject CPA using the same process outlined above.

Yes, the town can increase or decrease the surcharge, up to a maximum of 3%, by a vote of Town Meeting and approval by the voters at a ballot election.

If the voters accept CPA, the town is required to form a Community Preservation Committee (CPC) to evaluate proposals and make recommendations to Town Meeting for the appropriation of Community Preservation Funds.

There are 5 statutory members on the CPC, one each from:

• Conservation Commission

• Historical Commission

• Housing Authority

• Parks and Recreation Commission

• Planning Board

In addition, the town can appoint or elect up to 4 additional members. These members could include a representative from the Finance Committee, the Board of Selectmen, a local land trust, a historic society, the Chamber of Commerce, or any other individual or entity that would help to represent the interests of the town. If appointed, the appointing authority is left up to the town to decide.

The CPA surcharge takes effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year. If the vote is taken in the spring, then it would begin the following July 1. Once the surcharge is on the tax bills, Town Meeting may appropriate that revenue for CPA projects. The state matching funds are not disbursed until October 15, and are based on the CPA revenues the town collected in the previous fiscal year.

The state law permits up to 5% of CPA funds to be used for administrative costs associated with the Community Preservation Committee. Administrative appropriations, like any other CPA appropriation, would require the vote of Town Meeting. These costs would not come from the general town budget.

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