Frances Volkmann, who has been on the Community Preservation Committee since its inception, said steps were also taken to reduce the burden of the surcharge on those who could least afford it.
NORTHAMPTON – Six years after the city adopted it by popular vote, the Community Preservation Act might be back on the ballot.
A group of citizens is circulating a petition to place the state law on the ballot in the upcoming November election. A thousand signatures must be gathered by Sept. 27 to achieve that goal. The option of revisiting the Community Preservation Act is written into the legislation the city adopted in 2005. The act offered the promise of matching state funds for local revenues gathered by way of a surcharge on local property taxes. At the time, Northampton voters chose the highest levy, 3 percent, from a menu of options.
Since then, Community Preservation money has been used on a wide range of projects. The Academy of Music, Forbes Library and Look Park have all benefited from those funds, as have numerous affordable housing endeavors, including local homeless shelters. By law, the money may only be used for projects involving conservation, affordable housing, historical preservation and recreation.
Ward 7 City Councilor Eugene A. Tacy said he investigated the process for getting the question on the ballot after hearing complaints about the Community Preservation handouts from residents.
“We’re looking to get some input from the entire city,” he said, “and the way to do that is to put it on the ballot.”
Although Tacy has not yet signed the petition himself, he admitted that some Community Preservation awards have irked him. Specifically, he takes issue with a grant to Grow Food Northampton to help create a community gardens and $250,000 in Community Preservation money used to upgrade a boarding house on North Maple Street. Tacy believes residents were “hoodwinked” about those projects.
“It’s premeditated deceit, some of it,” he said.
William Breitbart, a member of the Community Preservation Committee, which considers applications and awards money, believes it would be “extremely unfortunate” if the act were brought up again for a vote.
“CPA money is critical to qualified projects,” he said. “It would be tragic for this money to be lost to the city of Northampton.”
Breitbart noted that the committee has established an extensive process to solicit public input on applications. Frances Volkmann, who has been on the committee since its inception, said steps were also taken to reduce the burden of the surcharge on those who could least afford it. To that end, the first $100,000 of assessed property value is exempt when calculating the surcharge. Income eligible households can also opt out of the surcharge altogether.
On the other hand, Volkmann acknowledged that the state’s contribution has shrunk steadily since the city adopted the act, dropping from a 100 percent match to about a 30 percent match. One reason for this is that the state money comes out of a fee on property transfers recorded in the registries of deeds. Housing sales have been slow due to the economic downtourn, however, and that pool of money has shrunk.
Although Northampton was among the first communities to adopt the act, many more have come on board since then, stretching the state funding thin.
Nonetheless, Volkmann said the state’s match has averaged 64 percent since 2005.
“If you can invest your money and do better,” she said, “tell me where.”