Community Preservation Act on March 25th Ballot
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After passage of the Community Preservation Act at the 2001 Annual Town Meeting, Sudbury voters will once again have the opportunity to vote on this legislation at the March 25th election. The Community Preservation Act allows towns and cities to raise funds through a property tax surcharge in order to pay for open space protection, historic preservation, construction of low and moderate income housing, and recreation. Town Meeting authorized a 3% property tax surcharge on residential properties. Exemptions to the surcharge approved at Town Meeting include all commercial/industrial property; the first $100,000 assessed value of residential properties; property owned by low and moderate income residents; and property owned by moderate income senior residents (age 60 and over). Sudbury has the potential to raise over $750,000 annually for the CPA fund. In addition, State matching funds of 80%-100% are expected annually.
The estimated surcharge amount on a home assessed at $400,000 would be $154.00 in FY02. To see a breakdown of surcharge amounts by home valuation
Click Here.
All funds must be approved by Town Meeting before being spent. A Community Preservation Committee will be formed to review projects and make recommendations. Once adopted, Sudbury cannot opt out of the program for a 5 year period. However, the amount of the surcharge can be changed at any Town Meeting.
Over 35 Massachusetts communities have adopted the CPA already. For more information on the Community Preservation Act, the Community Preservation Coalition has information and links to other sites on their website, which can be accessed by Clicking Here.