Rescinding the CPA
Al Hamilton
One topic on the Advisory Agenda tonight (7:30, Fire Station) will be a discussion of whether to sponsor a Warrant article to rescind the CPA. The CPA is a property tax surcharge that a town can elect to do. The monies are placed in a special fund and a percentage is matched by the state. The monies can only be used for Historic Preservation, Affordable Housing and Open Space.
When passed the reimbursement rate was 100% and it seemed like a good deal. This year the percentage is 30% and is likely to be lower (perhaps 0%) next year. The monies have been spent (in my opinion) on some good things (Chestnut Hill Open Space) and very poorly in others (look at the Arts Center Windows if you want to see how to waste 100’s of thousands of dollars).
I for one would be in favor of withdrawing from the CPA for now and taking the surcharge and devoting it to the general fund. This would make a modest amount of money available to the municipal and school governments with out raising taxes. There are substantial balances in the CPA accounts that would make this withdrawal a reasonable thing to do.
Al Hamilton
President
SignalFire Telemetry, Inc.
Tel: 978 212 2868
Cell: 508 527 3952
email: al.ha...@signal-fire.com