Summary

This bill seeks to broaden participation in the program, streamline administration, and guarantee the long-term health of the CPA Trust Fund. It proposes:

·  Increasing the deeds recording fee deposited into the Community Preservation Trust Fund to sustain a minimum 75% match to all adopting communities;

·  Clarifying the definitions of recreational use and rehabilitation to allow for improvements to existing open space, parks and recreational facilities not purchased with CPA funds, while retaining the current prohibition on routine operating maintenance;
·  Allowing the 10% annual open space set-aside to be used for active or passive recreation;

·  Allowing communities to use CPA funds to provide an allowance to a qualified third party nonprofit organization to hold, monitor and enforce the deed restrictions that are required under the Act.

·  Enabling housing authorities, community development corporations, non-profit housing providers and others to assume an ownership and development role in CPA-funded housing projects in addition to municipalities;

·  Clarifying that community preservation spending recommendations must be approved by a majority vote of the local legislative body except in cases of municipal bonding or eminent domain takings where a 2/3 vote is required;

·  Allowing municipalities that adopt a conventional 1% CPA property tax surcharge to supplement receipts from the surcharge with up to another 2% of dedicated revenues from other sources of local funds such as linkage fees, hotel motel taxes or inclusionary zoning. The total amount will then be matched annually from the state CPA Trust Fund;

·  Creating a new optional commercial exemption of up to $100,000 of taxable value for individual class three and four commercial and industrial properties that would mirror the current $100,000 residential exemption;

·  Allowing CPA administrative funds to be used to cover certain municipal first- year start-up costs such as upgrades to tax billing software;

·  Clarifying that in a municipality with a city charter, the Community Preservation Committee may make recommendations to the Mayor or City Manager, who in turn may submit the CPC spending recommendation to the local legislative body, separately or as part of an annual capital improvement program; and

·  Directing the state treasurer to disperse a small portion of annual state CPA Trust Fund revenue to the Registries of Deeds for operating and administrative expenses related to CPA.

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