Framingham Councilors To Begin Shaping CPA Law

Framingham MA

21 December, 2020

4:45 PM

Description

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A major step in Framingham's adoption of the Community Preservation Act (CPA) gets underway this week as the City Council Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee gets to work writing the city's CPA ordinance. Framingham voters approved adopting the CPA in the Nov. 3 election. Under the CPA, most commercial and residential property owners will pay a 1 percent surcharge on property tax bills to generate money for a pot that will be used to pay for things like improving parks and historic preservation. Earlier in 2020, the Framingham CPA Study Group drafted a proposed ordinance that will, among other things, create a committee to decide how the CPA money gets spent. The committee will include designees from the Conservation Commission, Historical Commission, Planning Board, Parks and Recreation Commission and Framingham Housing Authority. But there will also be four residents appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council, according to the draft ordinance. Once the ordinance is finalized by the City Council, the committee members will be picked, and will then get to work preparing a report evaluating what the city could do with CPA funds. The city will begin collecting the CPA surcharge beginning July 1, and the committee may begin reviewing possible projects as soon as spring 2022. Here's the draft ordinance that the Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee will start with. The subcommittee meeting begins Tuesday at 6 p.m.