Our FY23 Annual Report: The Coalition's Year-in-Review

Our annual report is an overview of the Coalition's activities on behalf of CPA municipalities during the last year - as well as a preview of our future plans and priorities.

CPA Advocacy: Mitigating a Difficult Year for the CPA Trust Fund

As we’ve done in prior years, the Coalition has been advocating for a transfer of FY23 state budget surplus funds for the CPA Trust Fund. State budget surplus funding has been a vital source of revenue for the Trust Fund for over a decade, but obtaining this funding for CPA municipalities can sometimes be an uphill battle. We were thrilled in the spring when Representative Paul Schmid and Senator Cynthia-Stone Creem championed a budget amendment authorizing the transfer of up to $30 million in surplus funding for the Trust Fund. However, the Conference Committee, whose members were charged with reconciling the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget, later released their compromise for the FY24 State Budget - and unfortunately, the Senate’s language regarding the transfer of funding for CPA was dropped.

This news certainly came as a disappointment, especially in light of the current revenue struggles for the CPA Trust Fund. Rising interest rates and extraordinary housing prices over the last several months have ultimately resulted in far fewer home sales occurring in the state compared to recent years. And because the CPA Trust Fund derives its revenue from filing fees at the State’s Registries of Deeds, this means that its current revenue collections have dropped by over 30% compared to this time last year.

This isn’t the first year that CPA revenue language has been dropped from the state budget, as similar events unfolded during the FY23 budget debate. Last year, we succeeded in securing $20 million for CPA municipalities through an economic development bill in the fall, and we will be considering all similar legislative vehicles in the coming weeks.

Laying the Groundwork for the Future of the Coalition and the CPA Program

Much of the Coalition’s focus on the first half of 2023 was on facilitating our behind-the-scenes transition to a new fiscal sponsor at Third Sector New England (TSNE). This move came as part of the Coalition’s multi-year development of a new strategic plan, and we believe that this organizational change will provide the Coalition and its staff with better flexibility and more opportunities for growth in the coming years. For more information on what this transition means for the Coalition and its member communities, read our full announcement here.

And while this development primarily affects the Coalition itself, we have big plans in store for the future of the statewide CPA program as well. Through our regular communications with the 195 CPA municipalities, we always pay close attention to new ideas and requests from cities and towns on how the CPA legislation could be improved - there are also growing concerns about the program’s current impact on equity and sustainability as more cities and towns continue to pursue CPA adoption. This is why the Coalition is beginning work on important updates to the CPA program, with a goal of proposing new legislation in time for the next State House session beginning in January 2025. As a key component of this new initiative, we are planning to form several working groups across the main categories of CPA that will help make recommendations on how the Act can be improved and strengthened.

CPA communities can expect to hear more details on these working groups in the coming months.

Training Presentations for CPA Newcomers and Veterans Alike

As the world has begun to emerge from pandemic lockdowns, the Coalition has been able to rekindle its ability to offer on-site and virtual training sessions for CPA communities.

One of the important services that the Coalition offers to new CPA communities is a complementary training seminar for members of the local Community Preservation Committee and municipal staff. This year, we’ve been hard at work getting many of the cities and towns that adopted CPA since 2020 up to speed on establishing an annual CPA budget, understanding the allowable uses for CPA funding, and helping them formulate their municipality’s CPA plan and project application format. We were pleased to help the towns of Boylston, Brookline, Lakeville, Lee, and West Stockbridge launch their new CPA programs within the last year, and this fall we’ll do the same for other new communities like Hopedale, Pepperell, Natick, Shelburne, Shirley, Westborough, and Worcester as they work on appointing their inaugural CPA committees.

And of course, we also provide training opportunities for communities that have had CPA in place for many years. Many of these CPCs find themselves onboarding new members that are trying to catch up on the basics of CPA, or are interested in an update on the statewide program and current CPA best practices. Thanks to the advent of virtual meeting programs, the Coalition has a greater capacity for scheduling trainings like these, and we’re pleased to see that communities have appreciated our efforts to “check in” and see how their local programs are faring.

If you think your CPC might be interested in an update presentation or training session with the Coalition, let us know!

CPA Adoption: Spring Campaigns, Local Surcharge Increases, and Even More in Store for 2024

After a busy state election season in 2022, we were expecting a quiet CPA campaign season in 2023 - but as it turns out, we’ve had plenty of activity to be excited about!

This spring, local advocates in the towns of Danvers and Shirley campaigned to promote their CPA adoption ballot questions, educating their neighbors on the benefits that CPA could have for the community. And while Danvers unfortunately failed to pass their adoption measure, voters in Shirley approved of CPA in a resounding manner, with 74% voting Yes. With Shirley’s success, the total number of CPA municipalities has increased to 195.

While CPA adoption efforts are certainly exciting, that wasn’t the only election activity in the first half of 2023. One of the greatest aspects of the CPA program is its flexibility, allowing communities to adjust their local surcharge level or exemptions with a majority vote at the ballot. This year, the towns of Harvard and Duxbury both voted to increase their CPA surcharge to the maximum of 3%, which will provide a huge boost in revenue for these communities to invest in local affordable housing, open space, outdoor recreation, and historic preservation initiatives.

The presidential election scheduled for November 2024 will be a high-turnout event, and so advocates and municipal officials in many communities have their eyes set on that date for their local adoption efforts. Time will tell just how many communities can gather enough support for an adoption attempt next year, but the Coalition is preparing for another busy adoption year for the CPA program.

Coalition Operations: Personnel and Financial Report

Even though the Coalition has moved to a new fiscal sponsor at Third Sector New England, we are proud to continue a strong relationship with our former sponsors at The Trust for Public Land (TPL). As we mentioned during the initial announcement, the Coalition staff will continue to work out of TPL’s Boston office on Beacon Street, just steps away from the State House, which is key to our work on Beacon Hill.

We are also thrilled to welcome Jodi Valenta, TPL’s State Program Director for Massachusetts, as the newest member of the Coalition’s Steering Committee. Jodi is an avid outdoor enthusiast, and her role at TPL means that she will be overseeing the organization’s efforts to improve accessibility for public places throughout the state (as well as collaborating with local CPA programs for future projects). TPL was one of the founding members of the Community Preservation Coalition, and so we are excited to continue this decades-long partnership with Jodi’s guidance and expertise.

The Coalition completed another year on firm financial footing (see our budget summary report to the right). We are deeply grateful for the support of our member communities and thank them for their advocacy on behalf of CPA, as well as their work on hundreds of impressive housing, recreation, historic, and open space projects that were completed over the last year.

Editor's Note: Historically, the Community Preservation Coalition has issued its Annual Report to member communities at the end of each calendar year – but this year we’re changing things up! Beginning in 2023, we will be issuing our Annual Report at the end of each fiscal year in order to better match the cadence of local CPA programs. This report covers the Coalition’s activities during the first half of 2023, and moving forwards, we will report on our progress each fiscal year (July 1st through June 30th).