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ARTICLE 33. To see if the Town will vote to hear and act on the report of the Community Preservation Act Study Committee and place on file or take any other action in relation thereto.
(Select Board)
MOTION:
MOVED AND SECONDED that the report of the Community Preservation Act Study Committee be received and filed.
BACKGROUND:
In August 2023, the Select Board established a study group to consider the future adoption of the Community Preservation Act (CPA) and provide a report to Fall Town Meeting. The group was tasked with fact finding and information gathering, and drafting a report to identify community needs, suggest possible surcharge amounts, and layout a public outreach strategy. The study group consisted of representatives from the Conservation Commission, Historical Commission, Planning Board, Housing Partnership Board, Affordable Housing Trust, Field Management Committee, School Committee, Finance Committee, and two at-large residents.
Comments
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The City of Amesbury voters adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in yesterday's municipal election.
Sample ballot. CPA is Question 1: https://www.amesburyma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4222/2023-Municipal-Elections-Sample-Ballot
Unofficial results: https://www.amesburyma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4262/November-7-2023-Municipal-Election-Results-Unofficial (YES 2206 NO 1438)
A prior attempt by Amesbury voters to adopt the CPA failed in November of 2016 (YES 41 % NO 59%)
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Passing the CPA should be a no-brainer for Winchester. Like maxing out your 401k company match, you should always take free money when it is being handed out. I'd like to see the CPA be the next ballot measure brought to the residents before another override, maxing out the match and leveraging these funds to start putting a dent into our capital backlog. Then, we can reassess and see if additional fund are needed. A CPA passage at 3% would directly raise ~$3M a year along with between ~$500k - ~$1M a year in matching funds.
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I agree, Brian. Passing the CPA should be our top priority and if we try to pass any other override before the CPA, we put its passage at risk.
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I agree, the CPA should be a ballot item considered for passage. It is a measured impact on citizens with a generous matching funds opportunity from the commonwealth. Let's get behind this effort!
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November 2023 Statewide CPA Trust Fund Distribution Announced
Statistics From This Year's Distribution:
- Total municipalities qualifying for a trust fund distribution on November 15, 2021: 189
- Match percentage received by municipalities with a CPA local property tax surcharge of less than 3%: 21%
- Match percentage received by municipalities with the maximum CPA local property tax surcharge of 3%: Range of 21% to 100%
- Total payout in first round distribution: $43,848,690
- Total payout in second round distribution: $3,763,230
- Total payout in third round distribution: $2,209,496
- Total payout for all rounds: $49,821,416
- Number of municipalities receiving a full 100% match: 8
- Community with largest Trust Fund distribution: Boston ($5,472,869)
- Community with the smallest Trust Fund distribution: Gosnold ($2,376)
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Good info Rich. I am looking forward to digging into this a little more to see what kind of matching funds upside there is with a 3% surcharge. On the surface 3% might not be palatable, but if taxpayers will be paying this anyway in the form of future overrides, then might as well try and maximize the match and lessen the override amount. Given the capital needs in Town and the way these funds can be used, this might be the best option (depending on what analysis shows).
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Select Board meeting agenda for Monday, Nov 27.
- Planning Board – MBTA 3A Update
- Eversource 345kV Update
- Capital Planning Update
- ARPA Funding Discussion
- Budget Summit Meeting Dates
- Waterfield Lot
- CPA Working Group Update
https://winchester.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11272023-5260
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Here is the packet (agenda and background documents) for the Select Board meeting on Monday 11/27/23
https://winchester.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11272023-5262?html=true
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Unfortunately the attached chart indicates that there is not much upside to a community having a 3% surcharge if that community collects much more than $500,000 into their local account due to the local surcharge. This data is for the most recent disbursement of funds from the State's CPA Trust Fund based on the amount collected at the local level in FY23. The baseline reimbursement was 21.02%. The final reimbursement percentage was only boosted to 40% or higher if that community collected less than $400,000 due to their local surcharge.
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But there is the upside of getting twice the match by doubling the surcharge. Given that the select board is looking to another override soon, there would seem to be an incentive to get as much as we can out of the CPA before we ask for more from the tax payers.
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In my opinion, the upside to 3% is that we collect more locally and regularly. It will alleviate the pressure and hopefully delay the need for overrides. The match from the state is just icing on the cake.
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Good summary of status of CPA Study Committee report that will be brought before Town Meeting
