Rutland Residents Against CPA

11/06/2024

11/03/2024

Tax his land, Tax his bed,

Tax the table, At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor, Tax his mule,

Teach him taxes are the rule.

Tax his work, Tax his pay,

He works for peanuts anyway!

Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat.

Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.

Tax his to***co, Tax his drink, Tax him if he Tries to think.

Tax his ci**rs, Tax his beers, If he cries Tax his tears.

Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find any way To tax his ass!

Tax him all he has, then let him know

That you won't be done Till he has no dough.

When he screams and when he hollers;

Then tax him more, take all his dollars

Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave,

Tax the sod in Which he's laid...

Put these words Upon his tomb:

‘Taxes drove me to my doom...'

When he's gone, Do not relax,

It's time to apply Inheritance Tax.

—Author Unknown

11/03/2024

11/03/2024

From the Epoch Times: "While elevated home prices are already pressuring prospective buyers, higher property taxes can push up the monthly mortgage payment beyond their affordability limits, the group noted.” The CPA surcharge will add to pushing some home buyers into an unaffordable situation.

11/02/2024

Thank you to the tremendous people who showed up in support of our next president and are taking a stand with us against CPA.

10/31/2024

Here’s a thought … instead of the Registry of Deeds giving the overcharges to Massachusetts towns and cities as an incentive to implement CPA, how about they give it to the residents in Massachusetts who are experiencing Crumbling Foundations!

10/31/2024

From the Community Preservation Coalition’s website https://www.communitypreservation.org/membership.

10/31/2024

This information is directly from the Community Preservation Coalition website https://www.communitypreservation.org/home/news/our-fy24-annual-report-coalitions-year-review. There is more on their 2024 Annual Report including ways the Coalition is lobbying the State to fund CPA “matching” via additional taxing mechanisms.

10/27/2024

The reason why towns don’t revoke CPA is because of balances due on projects that are funded through loans.

A Community Preservation Committee, which is formed to oversee the CPA in town, has the authority to borrow money for projects based on speculation of expected CPA funds coming in for the length of the loan.

IF the town successfully revokes CPA and there are outstanding bills to pay and the town does not have sufficient funds available to pay back the obligations, the surcharge must continue to be assessed until sufficient funds become available to pay the remaining obligations.

10/26/2024

At the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting when CPA was presented to the legislative body (the town residents):
1) CPA by-laws should have been presented and approved (see below).
2) We should have been allowed to vote on the surcharge percentage which could have been 1% (rather we were given no choice but to go with the maximum of 3%).
3) The only piece we were offered was the vote to allow it to be placed on the ballot, ignoring the previous two points.

Not off to a good start!! Already not doing things right.

According to the Massachusetts Division of Local Services, "In order to take advantage of community preservation opportunities, the legislative body (Rutland residents at Town Meeting) should be asked to adopt the by-law or ordinance at the same time it is asked to accept the CPA and approve the surcharge percentage. Any by-law or ordinance adopted at
that time may not take effect, however, until the voters subsequently approve the acceptance referendum question and, in towns, all by-law approval procedures under G.L. c. 40, § 32 have been followed."