CPA Surcharge to Continue Unchanged

The news from Plymouth's Memorial Hall yesterday was good, at least for those tax payers who really enjoy paying that 1.5% surcharge on their property taxes each year that enables the Town to participate in the Community Preservation Act (aka CPA) program. This is the program that allows the Town to use the proceeds from the surcharge to fund the purchase of open land, affordable housing and/or historic preservation. Yesterday, the Plymouth Town Meeting voted against two Articles put forth by Precinct 5's own Laurie Enos. The votes basically leave the program unchanged. The first article called for a roll-back of the percentage, while the second would eliminate it entirely. And the actual question was not whether these changes be made, but rather that the question(s) be put on the ballot so that the voters could decide. What happened to "let the people vote"?

Some folks think that this program is valuable in that it is matched with state funds that has, in the past, doubled its purchasing power. But with the fiscal crunch at the state level, the match is expected to drop to the 30% range this year. In addition, there is a sense that the CPA funds, and their use, exist totally outside the scope of the municipal budget. It's not clear whether a project initially acquired with CPA funds could result in future costs for the Town.

At yesterday's session, the Town Meeting also voted to use up to $1.4 million to purchase the 1820 Court House property. While the case can be made for preserving the dignity (see above photo) of this historic property, there are substantial questions regarding the costs of renovations as well as the possibility of environmental clean ups.

One solution is the possible availability of Federal funds to help defray the costs. First of all, this reliance on other levels of government to pay for local projects seems to ignore the severe fiscal problems being experienced by both the state and federal level. A second point worth considering is where do people think that these other levels of government get their cash. This process begs for some recognition that the taxpayers of Plymouth also pay state and federal taxes. Town fiscal programs that perceive such funds as "free money" are, at best, disingenuous.