The Community Preservation Act

The Community Preservation Act (CPA) is a new tool to help communities preserve open space and historic sites, and create affordable housing and recreational facilities. This web site has been created to assist individuals and municipalities in understanding and implementing the CPA.

Over a decade of work has gone into the Community Preservation Act, which was signed by Governor Cellucci and Lieutenant Governor Swift on September 14, 2000. Robert Durand, Secretary of Environmental Affairs, originally sponsored the legislation when a State Senator and championed the law's enactment.

The CPA Website is maintained by the Community Preservation Coalition, an alliance of open space, affordable housing, and preservation organizations that works with municipalities to help them understand, adopt, and implement the CPA. Members of the Coalition include: the Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA); the Keen Charitable Foundation; the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA); the Massachusetts Audubon Society; the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Preservation Massachusetts; and the Trust for Public Land (TPL). 

This site was created by Citizens Housing and Planning Association with support from the Keen Charitable Foundation.  The webmaster is Eric Segal.

The Act in Brief

The Community Preservation Act is statewide enabling legislation to allow cities and towns to exercise control over local planning decisions. This legislation strengthens and empowers Massachusetts communities:

• All decisions are local.
• Local people must vote by ballot to adopt the Act.
• Local legislatures must appoint a committee of local people to draw up plans for use of the funds.
• These plans are subject to local comment and approval.
•  If residents don’t feel the CPA is working as they expected, they can repeal it.

The Community Preservation Act provides new funding sources which can be used to address three core community concerns:

• Acquisition and preservation of open space
• Creation and support of affordable housing
• Acquisition and preservation of historic buildings and landscapes

A minimum of 10% of the annual revenues of the fund must be used for each of the three core community concerns. The remaining 70% can be allocated for any combination of the allowed uses, or for land for recreational use. This gives each community the opportunity to determine its priorities, plan for its future, and have the funds to make those plans happen.

Property taxes traditionally fund the day-to-day operating needs of safety, health, schools, roads, maintenance. - and more. But until the CPA, there was no steady funding source for preserving and improving a community’s infrastructure. The Community Preservation Act can give a community the funds needed to control its future.