Town of West Tisbury

About the CPA and CPC

What are the CPA and CPC?

The Community Preservation Act (CPA) enables Massachusetts communities to levy a surcharge on property tax bills to raise funds to expand their open space, historic, recreational and affordable housing assets.

West Tisbury voters approved our town's participation at the Town Meeting in April, 2005, and the subsequent Town election. The bylaw implementing our participation was passed at the October, 2005, Special Town Meeting. The bylaw called for the creation of a nine-member Community Preservation Committee (CPC), including representatives from housing, historic preservation, conservation and recreation groups, the Finance Committee, the Planning Board, and the community "at large."

The CPC helps develop and administer projects funded with CPA monies; it encourages participation from interested community members. All six island towns have now adopted the CPA for their communities.

How can the money be spent, and how much money will be available?
The CPA specifies that at least 10% of the funds each year must be allocated for each of the following: open space (excluding recreational uses), historic resources, and affordable housing. Up to 5% may be used for administering the funds. The balance may be appropriated for any of the three purposes, including the recreational use of open space. There are some restrictions on how funds can be used. For example, they may not supplant town funds already appropriated for a specific purpose.

Who decides how these funds will be spent?
The town voters! Every project must be specifically approved at a Town Meeting. The voters must first vote the allocation of the funds to the specified accounts, and later approve actual expenditures from these reserve accounts.

What process will the CPC use to develop proposals for community preservation?
The CPC wants to work together with town citizens and organizations to develop proposals for projects. If you have an idea for a project, your first step is to review the application process.

Members of the Community Preservation Committee

Member	Representing
Sean Conley	Historic Distric Commission
Al DeVito	Finance Committee
Lesley Eaton	At Large
Glenn Hearn	Affordable Housing Committee
Virginia Jones	Planning Board
Dale Julier	Regional Housing Authority
Bruce Keep	Parks and Recreation Committee
Susan Phelps	At Large
Peter Rodegast	Conservation Commission

The Chairmanship rotates periodically.