CPA is still a good deal for communities
To the editor:
Due to the popularity of the Community Preservation Act, the state CPA trust fund, used to match funds raised locally in communities that adopt the CPA, will not have enough money to provide a 100 percent match in 2008. Until now, CPA communities have received a dollar for dollar match each year.
However, contrary to your editorial (CPA isn't keeping its promises, March 4), no one ever said, or ever implied, that the 100 percent match would last forever. In fact, people in communities that adopted the CPA early on will tell you that knowing the 100 percent match would someday end was an incentive for passage.
That day is here. The level of this year's match, to be distributed in October, will be calculated by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and announced soon. And while a slowdown in real estate transactions is partly to blame — the monies in the state CPA trust fund come from fees on transactions at the Registries of Deeds across the state — the overwhelming reason for the drop in the match is the CPA's incredible popularity, and the ever increasing number of communities that have adopted CPA in the Merrimack Valley, the North Shore and statewide.
The CPA is so popular because it meets vital community needs for affordable housing, historic preservation, open space protection and recreation as traditional methods of funding for these quality of life projects has declined. How else would one explain that to date, against a backdrop of rising property taxes and strong anti-tax sentiment, voters in 127 communities have chosen to increase their property taxes by up to 3 percent for CPA projects?
The community level is, in fact, where the CPA rubber meets the road. Across the state the CPA has helped create more than 1,300 units of affordable housing, protect 8,300 acres of open space and fund more than 1,000 separate historic preservation and recreation projects. Furthermore, communities have used their CPA funds to leverage millions of additional dollars from other government and foundation sources that require a local match.
Even at a less than 100 percent match, many communities have found, and will continue to find, that the CPA is still a good deal.
CLARISSA ROWE
Community Preservation Coalition
Boston
Forgue knows resources are limited
To the editor:
Andover voters will go to the polls on March 25 to choose a new School Committee member. The stakes could not be higher, and that is why voters should choose Dennis Forgue.
Many of Andover's current town leaders look to close a budget shortfall with a Proposition 21/2 override that is likely to fail. Dennis recognizes that raising taxes is not feasible in these financially troubled times. Instead, he believes that sound fiscal policy begins with sound financial planning. He proposes a 3-5 year strategic plan that takes into account the resources the town actually will have available, instead of just wishing for more.
Dennis and I both have children enrolled at the Shawsheen School in Andover. As co-president of the Shawsheen PTO and a member of the facilities task force, Dennis has the institutional knowledge to ask smart questions, get real answers, and make tough decisions. As an entrepreneur and founder of his own company, Dennis possesses the business sense that the School Committee will need to provide a high quality education for the students of Andover with the resources available.
Whether you have children enrolled in Andover public schools or not, the quality of education affects you. Home values in Andover have more or less weathered the storm in large part because of our excellent schools; but resources are not limitless, and difficult decisions will need to be made. As a parent and a taxpayer, I trust Dennis Forgue to make those decisions as a member of the Andover School Committee.
BRANDON BIGELOW
Andover
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Quinlan offers new approach to School Committee
To the editor:
I am writing to encourage voters in North Andover to look seriously at a new candidate for School Committee, Mike Quinlan.
Added to his experience in finance, quality assurance and management are years of active participation in town meetings and elections. Mike approaches the issues in a straightforward manner, with the fresh perspective of someone who is very knowledgeable yet new to the town's political landscape. Most importantly, as the father of five school-aged children, Mike cares deeply about education and quality of life in North Andover.
Having lived and raised a family in North Andover for almost 14 years, I am concerned that the standard formula of making emotional appeals for tax overrides to create a feeling of "doing something" for our schools obscures the hard facts about whether the extra dollars spent add real value to our kids' education, property values, or quality of life in our town. Worse yet, the hype impedes public scrutiny of the mismanagement of school funds that has plagued North Andover for years. It makes good sense that extra costs — financial burdens that really impact the quality of people's lives — should not be imposed on North Andover residents if they are not proven to produce tangible returns for the investment, but only serve to compensate for past fiscal mistakes.
Mike Quinlan has a new approach. He emphasizes maximizing the value of our tax dollars through real cost-benefit analysis, allocating school revenues appropriately, and maintaining the financial integrity of our schools through meticulous accountability. We all work hard for every penny; it is very refreshing to have a candidate who will thoughtfully apply logic to the facts, instead of relying on emotional appeals, in order to ensure that our tax burden is commensurate with actual need and appropriated wisely.
ALEXANDRA MEZZINA
North Andover
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