Q: What would Question 5 do?
A: On November 4, Arlington voters will decide whether to fund historic preservation, affordable housing, and open space with a small surcharge on the property tax. If approved, there will also be additional funding from the state.
Q: Why is this needed?
A: Long-term quality-of-life priorities are important for Arlington, but they are often neglected in the face of short-term budget pressures.
The Legislature has recognized this as a problem for many cash-strapped communities, which is why it established this local-option funding mechanism. As an incentive, the state provides funds for towns that opt in.
Under the state law—the Community Preservation Act—funds raised could only be spent on historic preservation, affordable housing, open space, and recreation. Within those restrictions, Town Meeting would decide how to use funds raised to preserve Arlington's quality of life.
Q: How would Question 5 pay for community preservation?
A: Question 5 proposes a surcharge of 1.5%, with many exemptions. The first $100,000 of assessed value will be exempted for all properties. Low-income homeowners and low- and moderate-income seniors would be completely exempt.
The contribution by the average homeowner will amount to about $86 per year for a home valued at $515,000.
Q: How much would this raise?
A: As proposed, the surcharge would raise about $1.1 million annually. To this local contribution would be added a partial match by the state Trust Fund, which has varied from year to year from a high of 100% to a low of just under 30%.
Last year’s match was more than 50%. It would have provided an additional $570,000 to Arlington’s local fund.
Q: What’s next?
A: This plan will be Question 5 on our ballot for the general election on November 4th. A majority of Arlington voters answering “Yes” to this question will adopt the plan.
Here are links to the complete text of Question 5 and to the Community Preservation Act.
Further information about legal requirements, exemptions, costs per taxpayer, and state matching funds on this details page.
