What would you do to preserve your community?

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."

The not-well-known part of this story is that the state government used to match every dollar raised. Because of shrinking revenues, only 65 cents is matched in every dollar today. Still, it serves to support that which improves our quality of life:

Iannitelli, who chairs the town's Open Space Committee and serves as its forestry and parks superintendent, said West Bridgewater has needs in all four of the allowable spending areas.

For example, he said, the town could use the CPA fund to help acquire priority sites identified in the open space plan it is now updating. Funds could also be used to restore some of the town's many historic properties, such as War Memorial Park and local cemeteries; to meet the need for athletic fields; and to help the town meet the state mandate to have 10 percent of its housing affordable.

Sears said Hanson also faces needs in those four areas and stressed that it will be up to residents to determine which are most deserving of money. "It's extremely important that residents understand that Town Meeting has the final say in any expenditures from the program."

What would you be willing to do to preserve your community? Do you think the state should let the matching funds pool continue to dwindle? Do you have a better proposal?