JOCELYN LINNKEDIN
Southwick Agricultural Committee
SOUTHWICK – Residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the future of the Community Preservation Act this January.
A survey on the act, which is funded by a three percent residential tax, will likely be included in the next census, which is set to be sent in January.
The Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and Community Preservation Committee (CPC) met last night to discuss a recommendation by the Finance Committee to place a question on the 2016 presidential election ballot to reconsider the CPA tax.
CPC member Dennis Clark said it wasn’t that simple.
“There’s no reconsideration,” said Clark. “It’s lower it or eliminate it. It would have to be a specific question.”
Clark also pointed out that a ballot question must first be approved by Town Meeting.
Selectmen Chairman Russell Fox said the CPA is “a great program,” but that “things have changed.”
“We picked up some serious debt with the school project and we know there are some taxes coming up with the sewers,” said Fox.
Fox suggested a survey in the census or a non-binding ballot question on the next local election.
Clark and CPC Chairperson Chris Patt were concerned that would be an opportunity for educating the public with those options.
Fox said a pro and con type of wording could be included. Clark previously suggested reducing the tax to one-percent rather than eliminate it but he said this would reduce the town’s CPA grant opportunities by 75 percent. A reduction to one percent would also take $167,000 off what taxpayers would play.
Resident and Agriculture Committee Chairman Jocelyn Linnekin spoke in favor of keeping he CPA intact. She said she is in the mid-range for home values and pays $5 per month for the CPA tax.
“You can trace the direct benefit,” she said of the tax.
Selectman Joseph Deedy agreed the CPC does good work for the community, adding that there are other needs forthcoming, including the likelihood of needing a new million-dollar fire truck in the next five years.
Linnekin said the town gets more for its money with the CPA. Clark said about $8 million was spent of CPC projects in recent years, including land preservation, the Gillette Museum and high school track, and of those funds, $2 million in taxpayer money was used.
After the joint session, the Finance Committee met separately and made a recomendation to include a survey in the census. Fox and Deedy approved the recommendation. Selectwoman Tracy Cesan was again absent.
