Preserve Our Heritage • Preserve Our Future Preserve Our CPA • Vote “NO”on Article 1 On Monday, April 11th, protect your investment in Carlisle by voting AGAINST rescinding the Community Preservation Act (CPA). Let’s continue our partnership with the state to keep Carlisle the town we all want to live in. Let’s continue to plan, save, and invest in our community’s future. Why Support CPA? • CPA helps Carlisle help itself. State matching funds leverage our investment in ourselves. Pending legislation would guarantee the state match at 75% and allow CPA funds to be used to improve existing parks and recreational facilities. • CPA is for the people, by the people. Carlisle voters directly decide which projects are funded. CPA projects benefit the entire community: safer pathways for children walking to school, a restored library for all ages to enjoy, more affordable housing options for seniors. • In a tight economy, Carlisle can’t afford to forego state matching funds lost without CPA. Without CPA funding, it’s unlikely we’d have a source of funds to help preserve Carlisle’s special character. Relying on frequent overrides would undermine our ability to plan and could create increased budgetary strains. What is the CPA? The Community Preservation Act (CPA), enacted in 2000, provides state matching funds for participating towns. The state grant program is funded by Registry of Deeds and Land Court fees. Under the act, a majority of citizens must vote (at both town meeting and at the ballot box) to establish a “Community Preservation Fund” and levy a surcharge up to 3% on real estate taxes. A participating community must establish a Community Preservation Committee (CPC) to make annual recommendations regarding which projects deserve funding. Town committees do extensive planning and receive community feedback before applying for funds; the CPC vets all projects thoroughly. All expenditures of CPA funds must be approved by Town Meeting. For each fiscal year, the community must spend or reserve at least 10% of the annual revenues in the fund for each of the act’s community preservation purposes: Open Space, Historic Resources and Affordable Housing. The remaining 70% can be spent on recreation or any of the three purposes. A community may borrow to fund the act’s community preservation purposes and use future CPA funds to service the debt (borrowing for CPA projects requires the same 2/3 town ballot approval as any bonding). In 2001, Carlisle wisely voted to adopt the Community Preservation Act (CPA) and levy a 2% surcharge on real estate taxes with an exemption on $100,000 of assessed value for all properties. Also, an exemption from the surcharge is available for low income property owners and low-to-moderate income seniors (60+). $1,000,000 2002/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 $2,000,000 $3,000,000 $4,000,000 $5,000,000 STATE MATCH (cumulative) LOCAL SURCHARGE (cumulative) Cumulative CPA Funds Raised: $4.63 million to date