SOUTH HADLEY – For the second time in less than a year, town voters will decide whether to adopt the Community Preservation Act.
If approved, the act would allow the town to assess a 1.5 percent property tax surcharge beginning July 1, 2017. The money raised by the surcharge would create a local Community Preservation Fund which can be used to fund open space protection, historic preservation, affordable housing and outdoor recreation projects. Opting into the program allows the town to receive state matching funds.
The question includes an exemption that would be granted for property owners who qualify for low-income housing or low-to-moderate income senior housing. In addition, the surcharge does not apply to taxes on the first $100,000 of a residential property’s assessed value.
A taxpayer who receives a regular tax abatement or exemption would also receive a proportional reduction in the surcharge, according to the petition. Also exempt from the surcharge would be $100,000 of the assessed value of each taxable parcel of residential property as well as classes of commercial and industrial properties.
At a Know Your Town forum Thursday night, a small panel of supporters and opponents spoke to more than 45 people who gathered in the Town Hall auditorium to discuss the CPA and Question 2, the ballot question that asks voters whether to lift the cap on charter schools in the commonwealth.
“More than 160 Massachusetts cities and towns have adopted CPA,” said supporter Tony Judge, a member of the town’s redevelopment authority. “These communities have been enriched by projects that CPA has made possible.”
Judge added that every year the town’s taxpayers contribute to the overall state fund but unlike towns around South Hadley, they get nothing back.
“It’s time to adopt CPA and reap the benefits,” he said.
Also speaking in favor of the initiative was resident Allyson Garcia. Garcia said she and her husband moved to South Hadley less than five years ago for the great schools and because they could find an affordable house.
“I’m strongly for CPA. From a cost perspective, it makes sense to me to support CPA. South Hadley home buyers are already contributing but getting nothing back,” she said. “It would be well worth the small amount my husband and I would pay to help South Hadley access the CPA money going forward after leaving so much money on the table…”
Speaking in opposition, resident and Town Meeting member Michael J. Wozniak, said the act was “nothing more than a backdoor surcharge on our property taxes above and beyond Proposition 2½.”
“The CPA is just one more deceptive scheme on the part of the state to allow cities and towns to override Proposition 2½ in a very sneaky way,” Wozniak said.
He said money “diverted” by the state to fund the trust could have been better spent on infrastructure projects throughout the commonwealth rather than “spending it on trivial pet projects.”
Both sides argued on how the business community would react to the surcharge but said they hadn’t spoken with business owners.
Wozniak presented numbers on what certain businesses in town would be expected to pay if the CPA passes. He said that the top five businesses in town would pay a total of $9,200 a year, according to his figures.
An average home with a $231,740 assessed value would pay around $35 a year if the surcharge passed.
After five years, the town could vote to discontinue participation in CPA.
In April, voters rejected for a second time the Community Preservation Act proposal by a slim 727 to 713 vote.
Voters also rejected the proposal by a vote of 1,257 to 1,121 at the annual election in April 2008.
A year after state legislation enabling the CPA was adopted in 2001, a 15-member study committee recommended against adopting the local option. Another study committee was formed in 2006, which endorsed participation in the CPA.
Neighboring communities of Amherst, Hadley, Northampton, Belchertown, Easthampton, and Southampton have all approved the program. Holyoke residents also will be voting on the CPA on Nov. 8.