Vote NO on Articles 19 & 20: Pickleball & Rhododendrons Part 1 — Understanding the CPA

The Weston Finance Committee recently voted to oppose the Community Preservation Committee’s (CPC’s) proposals to spend $1.9 million for new pickleball and tennis courts, and design funds for an ultimately $375,000 Case Estates Rhododendron Garden. At the Annual Town Meeting on May 8th, the Fincom will explain their rationale, that the CPC does not have an overall plan and priorities for future projects, so it seems imprudent to commit these significant sums for expensive, nice-to-have ideas without an overall Community Preservation plan. There is also at least some feeling that these two specific projects are very expensive and fundamentally misguided ways to spend taxpayer money, even if it has already been collected from taxpayers.

We concur with the Fincom’s assessment, and urge you to attend the Town Meeting, and to VOTE NO on these two CPC proposals (Articles 19 and 20). To understand why, it is useful to review the Community Preservation Act (CPA), its implementation in Weston, and the arguments for and against these specific proposals. Please note that the CPA refers to the Act, while CPC refers to the Committee that administers the Act locally.

What is the Community Preservation Act?

The Community Preservation Act (CPA) is a Massachusetts state law passed in 2000 that enables communities to impose a surtax to create a local fund for open space preservation, preservation of historic resources, and development of affordable housing. Funds are raised locally in communities that have voted to participate in the CPA through imposition of a surcharge on local property tax bills – a flat additional tax – of up to 3%.

The local collection of the surtax triggers annual distributions from the state's Community Preservation Trust Fund, which gets the fees collected on real estate property transfers at the state’s Registry of Deeds. This state “match” for funds raised by the local community CPA surtax was initially 100% ($1 of state money for every $1 raised locally), but it dropped over time as more communities joined the program and shared the limited state pool. Over the last few years, the state match has ranged from 17% in FY2018 to 39% most recently in FY2023, with an average of 27% over this period, or 27 cents of state contribution for every dollar raised locally. The state legislature could eliminate this subsidy at any time, but realistically, it is expected to continue in this range going forward.

How Does the CPA Work?

The CPA requires annual appropriation for specific projects (or reserve for future projects) of at least 10% of estimated annual CPA fund revenues for open space projects, 10% for historic preservation projects, and 10% for affordable housing projects. There is no requirement that any of the CPA money be used for recreation, but it allows qualifying outdoor recreation projects to count against the open space requirement. After earmarking this first 30% of available funds, the remaining 70% of the money may be allocated to any combination of the three uses at the discretion of the local CPC, subject to the approval of their Town Meeting. Any unspent funds each year are rolled over for future spending. A community may also take on debt for specific CPA projects, to be repaid out of future CPA tax revenues.

To date, 194 municipalities in the state have adopted the state’s CPA program, representing 55% of the 351 Massachusetts cities and towns. No community has ever revoked the program, though voters may change the surcharge level or repeal it at any time. If repealed, a surcharge remains in effect until all the outstanding debt previously incurred by the town under the CPA has been paid off.

How Has the CPA Been Implemented in Weston?

Weston voted to participate in the CPA, at the maximum 3% surcharge level, at the May 2001 Annual Town Meeting. At the time, the discussion focused on the benefit of the then dollar-for-dollar state match, and how such a fund could help enable restoration of the Josiah Smith Tavern and Old Library. These two projects have since been completed using CPA funds and debt. Weston’s Committee is comprised of nine residents, including designees of the Historical Commission, Conservation Commission, Affordable Housing Trust, and Planning Board, a Select Board appointment, and four at-large members appointed by the Moderator. The CPC is an advisory group only, since all projects must be approved by a Town Meeting vote.

How Much Money Are We Talking About?

Since its beginning in 2001, Weston’s CPA fund has committed a total of about $64 million to various projects, using local property tax surcharge revenues of $35 million, additional CPA-specific debt of $13 million, and state funds of $16 million. The $13 million in debt, or about $3,500 per Weston household, requires annual debt service payments of about $1.4 million per year, or 42% of total CPA revenue. According to the CPA law, if we decided to wind down the Weston CPA program, we would still need to maintain a CPC surcharge of about 1.3% (rather than the current 3%) on our property taxes for the next several years to pay off this debt, even with no new projects. Including rollover of unspent funds from previous years, investment income, and other small funding sources, the Weston CPA fund now has a cash balance of about $6 million.

This year, Weston’s CPA surcharge totaled $2.6 million, with state matching funds of $1.0 million, roughly in line with FY2022, but considerable higher than prior years. Our current CPA surcharge of 3% of property tax bills represents $717 per average household per year and $540 for the median household. This is the highest of any Massachusetts community, except for large cities like Boston and Cambridge which have adopted the CPA and benefit from the surcharge on their considerable commercial property, and Provincetown, which has many vacation properties, similarly subsidizing residential households.

Really? What Have We Spent It On?

Through the end of last year, Weston’s cumulative CPA appropriations have been 40% historic preservation, 26% open space, 9% recreation, and 23% affordable housing, with 2% administrative expense. Projects have ranged from the very large and impactful, to a multitude of small projects in all categories, each costing tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dollars. A handful of large projects represent roughly two-thirds of Weston’s CPA commitments to-date:

• The 62-acre Case Estates purchase ($14 million, including some municipal debt)

• Restoration of the Josiah Smith Tavern ($13 million) and Old Library ($5 million)

• Brook School Apartments Building D (24 units, $6 million)

• The current Memorial Pool renovation ($3 million)

Of note, Burchard Park was partly funded with $1.7 million of CPA dollars, but mostly ($4.0 million) with privately raised funds.

In Part 2 in a few days, we will outline the arguments for and against the proposals to spend $1.9 million for new pickleball and tennis courts, and design funds for an ultimately $375,000 Case Estates Rhododendron Garden. We will urge you to attend the Annual Town Meeting on May 8th, and to VOTE NO on these CPC proposals (Articles 19 and 20).