Community Preservation Act Question On Danvers Town Election Ballot

DANVERS, MA — While there is not a lot of heated competition for elected offices in Danvers this spring, voters will be asked to weigh on whether the town should adopt the state's Community Preservation Act guidelines where a tax surcharge is used to fund projects such as restoration and upkeep of open space, preserving historical documents, rehabilitating playing fields or protecting water sources.

The funding source for these projects would come from a proposed 1 percent surcharge on annual property taxes, which are then matched, in part, from state funding from an annual trust fund.

Only communities that adopt the Community Preservation Act are eligible for state funding.

A taxpayer receiving a regular property tax abatement or exemption will also receive a pro rata reduction in a surcharge.

If adopted, a town by-law will be established that creates a Community Preservation Committee to study projects and applications for funding each year, then make recommendations for fund usage at the annual town meeting.

All expenditures under the act must be approved at a town meeting.

While some of the town meeting precincts have contested races on the May 2 ballot, that is not the case for any of the townwide offices.

Patricia Frazier is running unopposed for town moderator, Maureen Bernard is running unopposed for the one open seat on the Select Board, Eric Crane and Joshua Kepnes are the only two candidates on the ballot for the two open School Committee seats, Lisa Silva is the only candidate for the one open Housing Authority seat, and Irene Conte, Cory Ryan and Charles Desmond are the three candidates for the three open Library Trustees seats.

A full draft of the specimen ballot — which includes all eight precincts for town meeting members — can be found here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)