Natick, Westborough consider how best to spend Community Preservation Act funds

Natick and Westborough are the two newest Massachusetts communities to adopt the Community Preservation Act, which allows cities and towns to raise money to create a fund for open space preservation, preservation of historic resources, affordable housing development or outdoor recreational facilities.

The law, which passed in 2000, calls for money to be raised through a small surcharge (up to 3%) on local property tax bills.

Six Massachusetts communities asked voters to approve the measure at the polls earlier this month; it appeared as Question 5 on ballots in those municipalities. Voters in Natick, Westborough, Boylston, Worcester and Shelburne approved the proposal, albeit in slightly different forms. The proposal failed in Burlington.

There are now 194 Massachusetts communities — a little more than half of the state's 351 municipalities — that have adopted the CPA.

Natick and Westborough officials say they're making plans to spend Community Preservation Act money for “open space, historic resource and affordable housing purposes."

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Before deciding where money is to be spent, each town must form its own Community Preservation Committee, which will have members from each town’s respective open space committee, affordable housing trust, historical society, in addition to other town members. Creating those CPCs is expected to take at least a month, but in the meantime, key players are already speculating on how to best distribute the money.

'Historic victory' in Natick

In Natick, Question 5 passed with about 63% of the vote for a 1% surcharge on annual property taxes. Ganesh Ramachandran, vice chair of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and leader of the CPA for Natick Coalition, called the votes a “historic victory for the town,” saying it means a lot for the Fund, which has “never had a source of predictable income.”

“It’s really hard to make plans when you don’t have the money,” Ramachandran said.

Now, he said that will be less of a problem, with the preservation act offering a reliable well that expands beyond just affordable housing needs.

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“We finally have the funds to do amazing things for the town,” Ramachandran said.

The approach to spending will be as “inclusive and systematic as possible," he said.

Martin Kessel, chair of Natick’s Open Space Advisory Committee, said open space is often listed first as a priority for CPA funding, and the Natick team has advocated for the law since 2003. He added that the town has already lost out on new land acquisitions while waiting to pass the CPA, while other communities have “had money to do all sorts of good projects.”

“We're really going to need to get to do that in Natick as well,” Kessel said.

Kessel said benefits go beyond land purchases and that funding could go toward trail restorations or playground upkeep.

“Basically, it would give us a chance to pick out those opportunities that we didn’t have the funds for before,” he said.

Historical uses

Natick Historical Commission member Michael Frechette said a main benefit of the CPA is its potential for use in preserving historical resources in the town. He cited the Sawin House — one of Natick’s oldest homes, which is in need of many repairs but is not actually owned by the town — as an example of where money could go.

“It's a tremendous opportunity the town could have, if there were funds available to purchase it and restore it,” Frechette said. “The benefits it could hold as a teaching tool and a really unique historical asset for the town are really nice.”

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Making spending decisions won’t be easy, Kessel said, and the Open Space Committee already has “pages of things we’d like to do.” However, Kessel said he believes the CPC will prioritize based on what would be most helpful and beneficial to the town.

Ramachandran said he and other CPA advocates are in the midst of planning and he hopes to have answers regarding tangible goals starting in early December. A final workshop is scheduled for the first week of the month, he said.

'Community committee' in Westborough

In Westborough, Question 5 passed with just over 53% of the vote for a 0.5% surcharge, which Select Board member Shelby Marshall said was “very conservative.”

The town is currently trying to parse out next steps, with Marshall saying that ensuring the CPC is a “community committee'' and “not just another town board committee” is key. She said she hopes to have the maximum four-resident representation, not just the minimum of two.

“It’s critically important that we have broad resident support,” Marshall said.

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A lot of time and effort went into getting the law passed, Marshall said, adding that it marks an important step for the town.

“Why wouldn't we want to create a savings account, if you will, for these purposes that the town historically has supported?” Marshall said, adding that the state can match funding.

Mark Silverberg, who chairs Westborough’s Planning Board and Open Space Preservation Committee, said he’d like to see some funding go toward the newly formed Affordable Housing Trust’s senior housing plans, and to the Open Space Committee fund, which has depleted due to conservation efforts.

Another option for spending, he said, is the Boston-Worcester Air Line Trail, which is a former trolley line running from Framingham to Worcester that the town has been trying to convert into a biking and hiking trail.

Regardless of where the money winds up, Silverberg said, the CPA will go a long way in helping Westborough avoid borrowing or appropriating other funds.

“We're planning for the future of the town and we're getting ahead of some of these expenses rather than waiting for the expenses that come along,” Silverberg said.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Natick, Westborough are among latest Massachusetts towns to pass CPA