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The chart below demonstrates the allowable uses of CPA funds in each of the CPA project categories: open space, recreation, housing, and historic preservation. This chart is critical for determining whether a proposed project is eligible for CPA funding. A more detailed version of the below chart is available here. Projects are only eligible for CPA funding if they fit in a green box below.
Chart adapted from “Community Preservation Fund Budgeting and Finance Issues”, Massachusetts Department of Revenue, October 2005 The CPA requires that communities spend, or set aside for future spending, a minimum of 10% of their annual CPA revenues for each of the three following categories: open space, historic preservation, and community housing. The remaining 70% of the funds can be allocated for any combination of the three categories above, and/or for outdoor recreational use (parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, and the like). This gives each community tremendous flexibility to determine its own priorities. Read on for a general overview of each of these categories; a decision on the allowability of specific projects in each community is determined locally by municipal counsel. Open Space The definition of open space included in section 2 of the CPA legislation. It includes, but is not limited to, the following:
CPA funds may be spent on the acquisition, creation, and preservation of open space, and for the rehabilitation or restoration of any open space that has been acquired or created using CPA funds. It is important to note that a permanent deed restriction is required for all real property interests acquired under CPA. This restriction must be filed as a separate instrument, such as a Conservation Restriction (CR) or Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR), and until this step has been completed, the terms of the CPA acquisition have not been technically fulfilled. For more information on CRs, click here. The definition of historic preservation is included in section 2 of the CPA legislation. Under CPA, an historic resource is defined as a building, structure, vessel, real property, document or artifact that is either: • listed on the State Register of Historic Places; or CPA funds may be spent on the acquisition, preservation, rehabilitation and restoration of historic resources. Communities using CPA funds on historic resources must adhere to the United States Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The definition of community housing is included in section 2 of the CPA legislation. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) income guidelines are used to determine who is eligible to live in the affordable housing units developed by communities with their CPA funds. Housing developed with CPA funds may be offered to those persons and families whose annual income is less than 100 percent of the areawide median income, as determined by HUD. To see what those figures would be in your community, click here. Please note, though, that communities may choose to limit certain housing units created with CPA funds to those persons and families earning less than 80 percent of the areawide median income annually, as determined by HUD. This allows communities to include these units on their Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) with the state. To see what those figures would be in your community, click here. CPA funds may be spent on the acquisition, creation, preservation and support of community housing, and for the rehabilitation or restoration of community housing that has been acquired or created using CPA funds. The CPA requires that whenever possible, preference be given to the adaptive reuse of existing buildings or construction of new buildings on previously developed sites. Land For Recreational Use (Outdoor Recreation) Once a community has expended or reserved at least 10% of its annual CPA revenues on each of the three required CPA project categories above, it may use all or a portion of its remaining CPA funds (after appropriating up to 5% for the administrative expenses of its Community Preservation Committee) on land for recreational use. The definition of recreational use is included in section 2 of the CPA legislation. The focus for recreational use is on active and passive recreation, such as (but not limited to) the use of land for the following: • Community gardens Recreational use may not include horse or dog racing or the use of land for a stadium, gymnasium, or similar structure. This prohibition has generally been interpreted as meaning that CPA funds may be used only for outdoor, land-based recreational uses and facilities. It is important to note that the goal of CPA is to create new recreational opportunities, and therefore CPA funds cannot be used on land that is already designated for recreational use. This was reinforced in a 2008 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case, Seideman v. City of Newton, in which residents challenged the city's proposed use of CPA funds on two pre-existing parks. The justices ruled on the side of the plaintiffs, stating that “creation” does not include “new recreational uses on existing land already devoted to the purpose." For more information on this ruling, click here. |
