The Community Preservation Committee meets at 7pm on the 4th Tuesday of each month in the Police Station Conference Room, 4 Green Street.

The CPC submitted its annual recommendations for appropriation or reservation to the City Coucnil on June 28. The Council will review the recommendations through its Budget and Finance Committee on Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. We anticipate a final vote from the full Council during its meeting on Monday, August 9, 2010.

Here is a sumamry of the recommendations:

Project Title	Applicant	Category	CPC Rec. Amt.
Andrews Branch Library	City of Newburyport	Historic Resource	$     5,000
Newburyport City Trees Historic Restoration Project	Newburyport Tree Committee	Historic Resource	$   10,000
Highland Cemetery Gravestone Restoration and Preservation	City Improvement Society	Historic Resource	$     2,475
Beach Management Plan Priority Recommendations	Newburyport Beach Management Committee	Open Space	$   45,000
Open Space Reserve Fund	City of Newburyport Open Space Committee	Open Space	$   50,000
Downtown Project/Inn Street Mall	Downtown Group	Historic Resource	$   62,500
St. Anna's Chapel Restoration	St. Paul's Church	Historic Resource	$   23,000
Atkinson Common	Belleville Improvement Society	Historic Resource	$   10,000
Clipper City Rail Trail Project	City of Newburyport	Recreation	$   60,000
Preliminary Feasibility Study	Custom House Maritime Museum	Historic Resource	$   20,000
Belleville Congregational Church Restoration Project	Belleville Congregational Church Restoration Group	Historic Resource	$   40,000
Newburyport Powder House Restoration Project	Newburyport Preservation Trust	Historic Resource	$   27,000
Congregation Ahavas Achim Restoration	Congregation Ahavas Achim	Historic Resource	$   20,000
Community Housing Reserve	CPA Housing Reserve or Transfer to NAHT	Affordable Housing	$   10,000
Newburyport Affordable Housing Trust	Newburyport Affordable Housing Trust	Affordable Housing	$   70,000
City Hall Bond Payment	City of Newburyport	Historic Resource	$ 213,188
Open Space Bond Payment	City of Newburyport	Open Space	$ 140,819
Administrative Expenses	City of Newburyport	Admin	$   12,000
		Total	$ 820,982

 

The Community Preservation Act

The Community Preservation Act (CPA), M.G.L. Chapter 44B, was adopted by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Cellucci in September 2000. The CPA allows any city or town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to adopt a property tax surcharge of up to 3%, the revenues from which are matched by State funds.

The combined money from these two sources are used for the following purposes:

• Acquire, create and preserve open space
• Acquire and preserve historic resources
• Acquire, create, and preserve land for recreation use
• Acquire, create, preserve, and support community housing

The CPA in Newburyport

The residents of Newburyport voted to adopt the Community Preservation Act (CPA) on November 5, 2002. This program creates a 2% surcharge on real estate taxes for all property owners, with exemptions for the first $100,000 of residential property value and property owned by any person who qualifies for low income housing. The Commonwealth provides matching funds in October, which has resulted in the additional annual receipts of between thirty to one hundred percent local revenue.  

On February 24, 2003, the City Council adopted a City Ordinance creating the nine member Newburyport Community Preservation Committee (CPC). The CPC is charged with studying the City's needs, possibilities and resources with respect to community preservation and making recommendations to the City Council with respect to the allocation and expenditure of CPA funds.

The City has appropriated almost $5,900,000 to more than sixty projects across all four CPA categories.

The CPC holds a public informational hearing every November to hear suggestions and proposals from residents, City Boards, local organizations and other stakeholders for projects which will best serve the goals of the CPA and the needs and interests of the City. The CPC then entertains project applications each spring and makes recommendations for funding to the City Council in June.  

Links:

Community Preservation Coalition

Community Preservation Act