Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 22, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 5 C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F WRRB: Community Preservation Act would improve Worcester's livability V E R BAT I M No application fee "We also seek to eliminate financial barriers that could prevent high-achieving local students from applying to the college, and reaffirm our commitment to the community we all call home." Vincent Rougeau, president of the College of the Holy Cross, on it waiving the application fee for Worcester Public School students and becoming the latest Worcester university to waive the fee for applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds Inclusive athletics "I've run for Team Hoyt for the last seven years, and Dick and Rick have been a huge influence in my life." Brendan Aylward, founder of Unified Health and Performance in Lancaster, a fitness center serving athletes with and without disabilities, on the expansion into a new space, including the launch of the Rick Hoyt Research Lab, named after the famous father-son Boston Marathon running team No food waste "If you're reckless with natural resources, it's very expensive. What Vanguard Renewables is doing, it's just spectacular. They're combining food waste with cow waste, and they're gathering all this methane; and they're generating power," Chris Crowley, executive vice president of Worcester manufacturer Polar Beverages, on the company joining Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, a partnership founded by Vanguard Renewables in Wellesley aimed at eliminating food waste BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer I n November, Worcester voters will have a chance to vote on the Community Preservation Act, which uses a 1.5% property tax surcharge to fund community projects beginning in fiscal 2024. e funds would be used to acquire, create, and preserve open space, recreational spaces, and low-and moderate- income housing, as well as the acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of historical assets, according to a new report, "Preserving Worcester's Past, Present, and Future?" released Aug. 2 by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau. e WRRB concludes the CPA is a good way to fund investments to improve livability in the city, and gives Worcester access to the Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund it has been paying into, but not benefitting from. In the opposite of WRRB's report, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce came out against the CPA, saying this is the wrong time to add surcharges onto the city's business and residential taxpayers, the chamber wrote in an opinion published in the Telegram & Gazette. e WRRB estimates in fiscal 2023 the total amount of surcharge raised in Worcester would be approximately $3.7 million. e City of Worcester would have access to a percentage of matching funds offered by the state through the Community Preservation Trust Fund. e Massachusetts Department of Revenue projects that it will match about 35% of funds raised in FY22. To allocate funds, a community preservation committee would be created with five to nine members made up by law of members of the City's Conservation Commission, the Historical Commission, the Planning Board, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the Housing Authority. Any remaining members would be appointed by the city manager. e committee would advise the city manager on proposed projects, and the city manager would allocate funds in the city budget. Residents and businesses would fund the projects through a 1.5% property tax surcharge, which is not levied on the property directly, but on the tax paid. ere are three groups exempted from the surcharge in the bill. Homeowners making less than 80% of area median income and senior homeowners making less than full AMI would be exempt.e first $100,000 of residential property value taxed would be exempt. And the first $100,000 of value for commercial and industrial property would be exempt. According to the WRRB, the 1.5% surcharge on the median residential property in Worcester would be $43.46, while the surcharge on the median commercial and industrial property would be $174.23. Averages are higher for apartment buildings and commercial and industrial properties as larger, more valuable properties bring the average up. e organization calls attention to the fact that there is no requirement that the money be spent in the same timeframe that it is raised, and that the funds will not cover the entirety of many projects, but will need to be part of a larger funding package. e WRRB offers an online calculator to find out what your surcharge would be as well as more information about their findings on the CPA on its website. The WRRB is a not- for-profit organization, founded in 1985, dedicated to conducting independent, non-partisan research and analysis of public policy issues to promote good governance and informed public debate and decision-making, according to the organization's website. W The Worcester skyline, as taken from the offices of Fallon Health PHOTO / WBJ FILE

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