THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT and HOW IT CAN HELP WARWICK TAXPAYERS -
Keith Ross, Karro Frost, Christine Duerring

The CPA is a state law that allows adopting communities to establish a
dedicated local fund to support affordable housing, develop new parks,
playgrounds, and recreational fields, preserve historic buildings and
resources and protect open space. Besides supporting projects in these
categories that have been chosen and approved by the town, the CPA is
important to the Massachusetts economy, contributing jobs, supporting
tourism, and providing vital sources of local and state revenue. A total
of 147 cities and towns, 42% of the Commonwealth's communities, have
adopted CPA since it first went into effect in 2001. CPA funds are
generated through a surcharge of up to 3% on property tax bills, not on
the assessment, but on the amount of tax. The first $100,000 of
assessment is excluded in computing the tax that will be surcharged. In
addition, low income seniors and other residents can opt out of the
surcharge. For example, if your home is assessed at $185,000, your CPA
surcharge would be calculated by subtracting $100,000 from the
assessment, leaving $85,000, multiplied by the Warwick property tax rate
per thousand for that year, which is currently $16.43. That would equal
a property tax of $1,396.55. Then multiply that number by .03 (3%) to
determine the CPA surcharge, to get $41.90. Then at the end of the year
the state would match that amount from the Massachusetts Community
Preservation Trust Fund whose revenues are generated through fees
charged at the Registry of Deeds. This money would be held by the town
in a special account (not the state). Each fiscal year, Warwick can
decide to spend, or set aside for future spending the funds collected
through the surcharge and the state match. The CPA requires that 10% of
the funds be dedicated to projects for historic resources, 10% for
community housing, and 10% for open space. The remaining 70% of the
revenues can be spent or reserved for future projects in any of these
three areas above or for funding outdoor public recreation projects. CPA
funds may never be directed to the general town fund and may only be
spent on the three CPA core areas identified above and outdoor
recreation.

Examples of projects in Warwick that could benefit from this funding include:

* Renovations and repairs on historic buildings in town, such as the
town hall, the library, the old fire station, historical society
building, and others.
* Restore and preserve historic documents 
* Create new ball fields and trails for walking and biking 
* Develop a housing plan to determine the housing needs of Warwick
and then use CPA funds to address those needs such as support housing
for seniors, and rehabilitate old apartments to create homes for young
families or small households
* Preserve land to protect drinking water, local agriculture and wildlife habitat

If Warwick had passed the CPA when it was first offered in 2001, the
town could have used the funds collected to offset a major portion of
the $131,000 that has been spent on the town hall, fire station,
library, and other structures in that time with half of the funds coming
from the state.

CPA can be considered a savings account for qualified projects in town.
Rather than having to vote at town meeting to spend the necessary funds
on, for example, town hall repairs and have that cost added to that
years property tax, the CPA fund can be accumulating over time for those
purposes and the state will match what is collected by the town.

Anyone in town can submit a project proposal to the Community
Preservation Committee, which is appointed by the Selectmen. The
committee accepts applications and screens projects to make sure they're
truly eligible. The Committee submits a warrant article at Town Meeting,
and the Town residents vote on funding the project(s).

Volunteers will be collecting signatures at the library and at the dump
for the next few weeks to see if there is enough interest to get the
proposal on the ballot for the May town election. In addition, there may
be a non- binding article on the town warrant for the May town meeting
to discuss the proposal for Warwick. In addition, volunteers will be
meeting with the historical society, fire department building committee
and senior meal site to explain the CPA. There will also be a program on
the CPA at the Library on April 29th and will be open to all.
Information about the CPA is also available on the Warwick website.
(www.warwickma.org) A volunteer committee has been meeting at the town
hall every two weeks to explore the pros and cons of adopting the CPA in
Warwick and develop a plan to inform Warwick residents about the CPA and
how it might benefit the town, now and in the future. Please come if you
are interested. If you have any questions or comments, please email or
call Karro Frost (karrofrost@gmail.com 978-633-9542), Christine Duerring
(978-544-0979), or Keith Ross (kross@hughes.net 978-544-2181)