Three Towns Voting on CPA on Election Day
Oct. 30, 2018: On November 6th, three communities will be voting on a Community Preservation Act (CPA) ballot question. The towns of Berlin and Plainville will be asking voters whether or not to adopt CPA while the Western Massachusetts town of Northfield is considering increasing their surcharge from 0.5% to 1%.
In Plainville, the town will vote on whether to adopt CPA with a 1% surcharge with exemptions for low-income and low & moderate income seniors and the first $100,000 of residential and commercial property. Their local surcharge is expected to raise approximately $165,000 annually.
The adoption campaign was a culmination of the efforts of several Plainville residents working with their Director of Planning and Development, Chris Yarworth. Last February, Yarworth organized a public meeting and invited the Coalition's Associate Director, Alison Leary, to give a presentation on the merits of the CPA for the town. Later in the year, members of the town’s Open Space and Recreation Committee organized a “Yes on 4” campaign to raise public awareness about CPA.
The “Yes on 4” Committee organized an event at the grand opening of “Hawkins Woods,” the 103 acres of open space/recreation land the town purchased a few years ago. Sherry Norman, a CPA advocate on the Open Space & Recreation Committee, was enthusiastic about the event.
“We had a great turnout,” Norman said. “The “Yes on 4” committee used it as an opportunity to talk up the CPA, hand out flyers with information on why the CPA will be good for Plainville, and get the vote out!”
The “Yes on 4” Committee is also working with the Open Space & Recreation Committee and Plainville Historical Society to identify CPA projects and turn out voters in support of the ballot question.
In Berlin, the town will vote to adopt CPA with a 3% surcharge with exemptions for low-income and low & moderate income seniors and the first $100,000 of residential and commercial property. Their local surcharge is expected to raise approximately $245,000 annually.
Residents organized the “Fund Berlin's Future" campaign, promoting their efforts with lawnsigns and mailing postcards to all 2,341 registered voters in town. Additionally, the Coalition partnered with Ashley Davies, a land protection specialist with the Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT), to hold a public meeting about CPA at the town’s Community Center (located within a beautifully restored former Methodist church).
The Sudbury Valley Trustees has worked with the Town of Berlin’s Conservation Commission over the years to preserve open space and the agricultural character of the town. “Funding for conservation is running low and adopting the CPA will create a steady source of revenue,” Davies explained. “CPA will allow the Conservation Commission to continue their phenomenal work of preserving Berlin's farms, forests, and streams.”
Meanwhile, the town of Northfield, which adopted CPA back in 2008, currently has the lowest local surcharge percentage in the state at 0.5%. After the motion passed at their spring town meeting, residents will now be voting on a ballot question that would increase the local CPA surcharge from 0.5% to 1%, doubling their local revenue to approximately $44,000 annually. This effort was organized by the Chair of their CPC who recognized the need to raise more funds for local projects. Last year, Northfield spent nearly $56,000 in CPA funds to do work on their Town Hall, build a new elementary school playground, and to purchase a plaque to commemorate Northfield’s first fire station.