Community Preservation Act: Bring Money back to Medford
– Joan Cyr
The Community Preservation Act (CPA) is Question #1 on the (backside of the) Medford ballot. On November 3rd, voters in Medford will have the chance to add our city to the list of communities eligible to receive State funds and to raise local funds in support of local projects that will enhance and sustain our quality of life.
Already, 158 other communities are taking advantage of the CPA investment tool to help improve their communities. Medford taxes have been supplementing the CPA trust fund since 2002, and helping other communities who have voted in the CPA to improve their open space, recreation, affordable housing, and historical resources. The city of Cambridge alone has used CPA funds on 334 projects citywide (http://communitypreservation.org/projects/new). As a native Cantabridgian now living in Medford, I have seen first-hand what CPA can do to help a community.
While engaging with the Medford community on CPA, some have said “It’s just another tax….”  It’s true that the CPA is partially funded by a small surcharge on property taxes (in Medford, about $53/year for the average single family home). But when was the last time that you had control over where your taxes got spent? Likely never.
The CPA represents an opportunity for your voice to be heard over where your tax dollars are spent. This additional investment can ONLY be spent on open space, recreation, affordable housing and historic preservation projects from a broad range of community represented interests. The CPA establishes a level of intentional
proactive planning and transparency on spending that we don’t have with general budget tax revenue.
These kinds of investments work to increase homeowners property values, and the value of the community overall, as it targets quality of life in our city. The community decides what is right for Medford, as we develop criteria that reflects our community’s priorities and needs.
Lawmakers are seeing the surge of communities using the CPA investment tool, and are working on current legislation to provide a higher annual trust fund distribution for all CPA communities (http://www.communitypreservation.org/news/9239).
It’s time to bring Medford contributions back home to do for our city what other communities have been able to do for their cities and towns. To bring money back to Medford, vote YES on #1 this November 3rd.
To learn more about what CPA can bring to Medford, and how CPA would work, visit www.preservemedford.org.