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Article 54 at Sudbury’s Annual Town Meeting is a citizen petition to cut the Community Preservation Act surcharge from 3% to 1.5%. The petitioner presented to the Finance Committee in April, after which the committee voted not to support approval of the article.
Since then, a number of committees have voted to oppose the article. None of Sudbury’s elected or appointed committees have voted to support approval of the article. The committees that have voted to oppose the article include:
- Select Board
- Finance Committee
- Community Preservation Committee
- Conservation Commission
- Historic District Commission
- Historical Commission
- Park and Recreation Commission
- Sudbury Housing Trust
The Rail Trails Advisory Committee has scheduled a meeting on Monday, May 5, just before the start of Annual Town Meeting, and the agenda indicates it may take a position on the article as well. Community Preservation Act funding has been used multiple times for rail trail projects in Sudbury.
During the Thursday, May 1 meeting of the Park and Recreation Commission, the Director of the Sudbury’s Park and Recreation department, Dennis Mannone, said the cut would be “devastating” to Park and Recreation in Sudbury. He went on to explain that a Fields Needs Assessment was due to be presented to the community in June, followed by the initiation of an Open Space and Recreation Plan. He expressed that the recommended projects in those plans would likely pursue funding from Community Preservation Act funds over multiple years.