The CPA is an operational override which means it applies annually for the remainder of your life if passed. The three percent surcharge is applied each and every year and grows by Proposition 2 1/2 annually. There is no law that prevents CPA advocates from donating any amount of money to the town for the explicit purpose of buying open green space.  Before advocating for a CPA, I strongly recommend that these advocates donate out of their own pockets to show us their true colors (usually spineless yellow). If passed in a local vote, the Community Preservation Act (CPA) enables a community to impose a surcharge on property taxes of up to 3 percent of the real estate tax levy. The required split of the funds so raised is 10 percent each for open space acquisition and preservation creation and support of affordable housing, acquisition and preservation of historic buildings and landscapes The remaining 70 percent may be allocated within those three core categories or toward land for recreational use by a locally appointed committee. In addition, the locally appointed committee may vote certain exemptions to the surcharge: for property owned and occupied as a domicile by a person who would qualify for low income housing or low or moderate income senior housing in the city or town for class three, commercial, and class four, industrial, properties as defined in MGL Capter 59, section 2A in cities or towns with classified tax rates for $100,000 of the value of each taxable parcel of residential real property. Details of the state enabling legislation Framingham certainly does not need more affordable housing so the general consensus among the tax and spend socialist liberals in town is to spend it on historical buildings and open space. The questions that might be raised here are: The average property tax bill in Framingham is around $5,500.  Voting for the CPA will add 3% or $165 annually to your property tax bill for the remainder of your life. How will your life improve for that $165 each and every year? Will you see or detect any improvement or will you simply watch $165 disappear into a sinkhole? The committee that spends 70% of the funds is appointed.  Who appoints them? An elected body? If the committee gets packed with history buffs, we will get more old buildings. How will that improve your life? If the committee gets packed with land grabbing tree huggers from precincts 1, 2, 4 and 11 , we get more open space, but only in precincts 1, 2, 4 and 11.  Precincts 15, 16, 17 and 18 will get nothing. Why should Framingham need historical buildings? For instance, we currently possess our town hall at 150 Concord Street, but we also possess two previous town halls. Unfortunately, unlike collectible baseball cards, town halls do not grow in value over time. We have to pay upkeep from weather and insects in perpetuity even if the buildings are not used for anything but storage. We also possess some old library and school buildings that are used primarily for storage. We pay for the building maintenance over the centuries. Keep in mind that Framingham was established back in 1700. I'm surprised that we haven't preserved any ancestral caves. The very notion that we should collect these old buildings has as much appeal as a trunk full of decomposing squirrels.

The concept behind the Community Preservation Act (CPA) is a complete contradiction to our Welcoming Proclamation which was passed to specifically encourage illegal aliens into Framingham. If the intent is to preserve the community and buy open land, then it seems reasonable that we should not encourage the overpopulation of Framingham by third world residents. The Welcoming Proclamation has been remarkably successful. As a test, just go downtown and find someone who speaks English! I dare you. I triple dog dare you! Furthermore, after learning that illegals scrunch up in our houses (take note of 17 beds found in 2-4 Avon Street fire), the town now hires more housing inspectors to make sure they don't overcrowd housing. Now the illegals have to spread themselves thin, requiring more housing, which coincidentally requires more land. But wait, you want to buy up open land to keep it green. And you want the illegals for diversity. I'm so confused. Somebody please help me! Regretably, Framingham is packed with liberal morons who adamantly refuse to even discuss illegal immigration. You cannot solve a problem that you refuse to acknowledge to begin with. Thus we relentlessly become the New Bedford of metrowest.

Way back in 2003, I acquired a list of town owned properties , some of which were being considered for sale. The current assessed value is now about double of what is shown in these listings . This represents significant pocket change that can prevent a future operational override or capital (debt-exclusion) override.

MGL Chapter 30B Section 16, Acquisition and disposition of real property MGL Chapter 40, Section 3, Towns; power to hold, lease and convey property MGL Chapter 40, Section 15, Taking, Purchase And Abandonment Of Land MGL Chapter 40, Section 15A, Transfer of land; procedure MGL Chapter 60 Section 77B, Management, sale, or lease by municipalities; land acquired through foreclosure Town Bylaws Article II Section 16

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