The Community Preservation Act (MGL 44B) is statewide enabling legislation to allow cities and towns to exercise control over local planning decisions. The CPA provides new funding sources which can be used to address major concerns in Town. The core concerns addressed:
Acquisition and preservation of open space and land
Acquisition and creation of affordable housing
Acquisition and preservation of historic buildings and landscapes
As approved by Town Meeting, the local funding source for the Act in Wellesley will be a surcharge of 1% on the annual property tax bill assessed on real property, with certain exemptions, commencing in fiscal year 2003.
The Community Preservation Act specifies that at least 10% of the CPA funds collected each fiscal year be spent or reserved for the CPA's three main purposes: open space, historic resources, and community housing. Funds not expended in one year may be "banked" or carried over to subsequent years as long as the funds are ultimately expended for the purpose for which they were reserved.
The remaining 70% of the annual funds can be appropriated or banked, for one or more of these purposes, plus recreational uses. Multi-use projects can draw funds from one or more categories.
When the act was established in November 2002, a Community Preservation ("CPC") Committee was created and comprised of Town residents. The Community Preservation Committee consists of nine members overall, four as required by statute, plus one from Recreation and four Moderator appointees.
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