Danvers group forms to oppose CPA

DANVERS — A group of town residents has banded together to oppose Danvers adopting the Community Preservation Act.

The group, which includes two former selectmen, announced its formation on Tuesday. It opposes the adoption of the local tax surcharge, which would be used for special projects such as historical preservation, affordable housing and open space acquisition. The CPA will be before Danvers voters as Question 5 on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Former Selectman Keith Lucy, chairman of the No CPA in Danvers committee, says those involved in the effort are in favor of historic preservation, open space purchases, recreation projects and community housing.

Lucy said it would be best, however, instead of creating a separate pool of money with a CPA tax surcharge, to have the projects go through Town Meeting to be voted on there.

"If these projects need to be funded, they need to walk through the process that works so well," said Lucy. He said he favors recreation projects, noting he serves as president of Danvers Babe Ruth Baseball.

Along with Lucy, the committee's primary officers include Mark Zuberek, the residential outreach coordinator. Zuberek co-hosts the Danvers Community Access Television program, "The Topics of the Town," and is a Town Meeting member and former selectman and Finance Committee member.

Former Town Meeting member John Toomey, a longtime tax advocate for seniors, serves as the group's senior citizen outreach coordinator, while Danvers businessman Tom Manuel, who formerly chaired the Conservation Commission and ran for selectman this past spring, is the business community outreach coordinator. The group has a Facebook page, "NoCPAinDanvers."

Town finances

"We are in favor of fiscal responsibility," said Lucy, explaining that it's not true his group opposes the types of projects the CPA would fund.

In a letter to the editor on Sept. 23, Lucy wrote that there is no shortage of cash in town government, and he cited figures from the town's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, an audit of town finances, for the past five years.

He wrote that excess revenue and unspent appropriations combined have totaled more than $12.4 million in five years, and this is money that flows into the town's free cash account every year that is used for various projects. He said a portion of these funds could go toward projects the CPA would cover. He further noted the audit report shows the town had $8.98 million in free cash along with $8 million in other stabilization accounts.

Lucy said the inability of the town to find the money for such projects among existing accounts was laziness on behalf of selectmen and elected officials.

"We don't need a new tax," he said, "we need new government officials."