CPA is on the ballot in Woburn for November 2015

Woburn to vote on CPAApr. 10, 2015: Woburn became the first community to advance CPA to the ballot this year, when the Woburn City Council voted 5-4 at their meeting on Tuesday, April 7th to put CPA on the city’s November ballot. On November 3, 2015, voters will decide whether or not to adopt a 1% CPA surcharge for their community, with exemptions for the first $100,000 of residential property value, the first $100,000 of commercial property value, and low income and low and moderate income senior homeowners. With a 1% CPA surcharge and the aforementioned exemptions, Woburn would bring in approximately $740,000 in local CPA revenues annually for community recreation, historic preservation, open space, and affordable housing projects. Adopting CPA will also make the city eligible to receive annual distributions of funds from the statewide Community Preservation Trust Fund, monies that are available only to communities that have adopted the Act. The annual cost to the average Woburn homeowner would be less than $30.

Woburn last voted on CPA in November of 2014, and that election tally was extremely close, with 49% in favor of CPA and 51% opposed. There were four high profile statewide questions listed on the same ballot, drawing voters’ attention away from the CPA question, and resulting in a high number of blanks on the CPA ballot question. Local CPA advocates felt that the close election result, along with the high number of blanks, indicated the need for additional education of voters on the CPA question, and warranted another try for CPA at the ballot box this year.

If Woburn does adopt the CPA, these funds could address a number of open space and historic preservation needs, including the rehabilitation of the Woburn Public Library, a town landmark and National Historic Landmark, and other historic municipal structures and sites. CPA could also be used to improve the city’s parks and other outdoor recreational facilities, historic cemeteries, and the Civil War memorial, among other eligible projects.

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