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Hampden debates repealing Community Preservation Act as advocates cite $664,000 fund and recent projects
Summary
At the advisory hearing, residents and officials debated a warrant article to repeal Hampden’s 1% Community Preservation Act surcharge. Supporters said CPA funded parks, sidewalks and conservation; opponents pointed to tax increases and lower state matching percentages.
Advisory and community members spent substantial time on an article proposing repeal of Hampden’s participation in the Community Preservation Act (CPA). Town officials reported the CPA account held roughly $664,000 (about $110,000 encumbered for a North Road property) and listed recent CPA‑funded projects including playground and field improvements, sidewalk repairs and open‑space acquisitions.
Proponents of repeal argued that with the tax bill increases residents face this year, removing the 1% CPA surcharge (first $100,000 of valuation exempt) would provide relief. Opponents—including park and recreation and CPC supporters—said CPA funds leverage state matching dollars and have supported 48 local projects across categories (historic, recreation, open space, housing) and provide conservation and recreation benefits that would be harder to fund from general revenues.
Officials also noted the state match has fallen from earlier years (when it reached 100%) to roughly 15–16% currently, which has reduced the upfront leverage of CPA contributions. A community preservation committee member told the advisory that no Massachusetts towns have fully repealed CPA and that statute does not prohibit re‑joining in the future.
Specific CPA requests on the warrant include a $25,000 request to rehabilitate the Nickham (upper) field in the Wreck complex and a proposed $60,000 request (purchase + expenses) to the Minog Land Trust for roughly 18 acres adjacent to existing riverfront parcels.
Next steps: CPA repeal and CPA funding articles will be debated and voted on at town meeting; advisory flagged the topic for additional discussion given both fiscal and community amenity tradeoffs.
