Since being passed into law in 2001, The Community Preservation Act has helped communities across the state save public areas threatened by development, rescue historic gems from the erosions of time, and create much-needed affordable housing units. These funds are currently being threatened by the lack of state funds sustaining the CPA, while a recent bill, filed by Sen. Cynthia Creem, is designed to close these loopholes, and secure state funds for the CPA. More information on communities that are working to utilize the CPA, and how your community can realize the benefits of the Act can be found at the Community Preservation Coalition.

Can a consortium of businesses do a better job of promoting the public good than the city of Boston?

Anti-government activists in the United States often complain that their local, state and federal government should be run more like a business. “If we operated our government like a business,” the argument goes, “we could have better services and lower taxes.”

So now that a group of downtown businesses calling themselves the Greenway Conservancy have stepped forward claiming they will help develop the Rose Kennedy Greenway by pooling private donations, it’s worth questioning how much of the taxpayers’ money they will save.

Good quotes about about residents working together through their government:

In a Saturday OPED in the Herald, Rep Steve D'Amico points out that our current tax policy that providing tax incentives to the movie industry is costing us a bundle.

Worth every penny some people think!!

The movies have come to Massachusetts in a big way. It seems that every week there is another story in the news about the success of the film production tax credits enacted by the Legislature in 2007. Hundreds of good high-paying jobs! Hollywood East! There is now serious talk about building one or more movie studios here.

Some stories just make you smile, and it's good to see the Metro covering the good deeds our friends and neighbors are accomplishing in our communities! Now where did I put that paintbrush?

Dorchester Pitching in Rogelio Buckley, 5, is happy to pitch in and help clean up his favorite park.

One town looking to a local college for money!

In this case, it’s Stonehill College in Easton, which pays $20,000 a year to the town of Easton to offset what it costs the town to provide services.

As Selectwoman Colleen Carona says “We’re looking for every way we can to maximize our earning power.”

Every city and town in Massachusetts is facing a budget crunch brought on by rising costs and a stream of state aid that has been reduced by more than 40 tax cuts in the last 10 years. And, like many cities and towns in Massachusetts, Easton is taking a hard look at its relationship with Stonehill.

Great Headline, and a fact filled article fom the Lowell Sun.

Council gets a tough task done right!

LOWELL -- The quick coming together of the Lowell City Council in regard to the city's new fiscal budget is a good sign of maturity and common sense by the elected body.

The council could have played games and tweaked some numbers, but instead recognized this was a reasonable compromise for spending over the next 12 months that won't kill taxpayers, won't harm city workers, won't reduce city services, won't see huge increases in fees and will continue investing in the future of Lowell.

The Boston Globe ran an article about the four most recent communities to take advantage of the Community Preservation Act in Massachusetts. It is a classic case of folks coming together--via the town meeting and supported by the state--to help plan essential structures in their communities...

The Community Preservation Act, the state law that lets municipalities levy a property tax surcharge of up to 3 percent to fund open space, historic preservation, affordable housing, and recreation projects won approval in all four area towns where it appeared on the ballot this spring: Hanson, Plympton, Stoughton, and West Bridgewater.

"People are willing to pay when they know it's going to do good things for the community," Chris Iannitelli, who served on West Bridgewater's pro-CPA ballot committee, said of the vote in his town. "We've been hearing so long that people want to see the community stay the way it is. And this act helps to preserve the community."

Last month we asked "Who Needs Libraries, Anyways?"

Second and Fourth graders at George H. Mitchell Elementary School in Bridgewater have resoundingly answered that question by raising more than $20,000 for their town's public library.

“The children learned that they could do something worthwhile to support their community and they improved their reading at the same time,” said second-grade teacher Lisa Ohman.

Check out the Globe story When towns talk trash, earth, taxpayers benefit.

It's the exception rather than the rule that public officials can save money and help the environment, too, but initiatives by several area communities acting together on solid waste service might do just that.