Towns seek leeway to fund recreation

Norwell has a problem.

Sports are big -- so big that the town's many athletic teams are running out of places to play. "We have tremendous demand and only a finite number of fields," said James Boudreau, town administrator.

Norwell and many other communities are looking to solve that dilemma by using Community Preservation Act (or CPA) funds to refurbish and expand their athletic fields. And a plan heard last week on Beacon Hill just might, for the first time, make that possible.

While proposals to change the CPA law have failed before, lawmakers may be more willing this time around, and an urban-suburban alliance of legislators further enhances the odds of passage.

Community Preservation Act funds -- collected via a 1 to 3 percent property tax surcharge and matched by the state -- can be used for open space acquisition, affordable housing, and historical preservation. While limited spending on recreation is also allowed, the 2000 law prohibits spending on capital projects such as new playgrounds.

Still, the program has been a boon to the suburbs, allowing them to buy large, pricey tracts of farm or forest land that otherwise might have been snapped up for development. About a third of the state's municipalities have adopted the CPA, despite some opposition to the tax that comes with it.

In Hingham, for example, voters in 2001 adopted a 1.5 percent property tax surcharge to fund the CPA. The money has gone toward purchase of 17 acres of open land. Kingston, which adopted the law in 2005, is planning to use its 3 percent surcharge to buy a 21-acre farm.

But many of the more urban communities, such as Brockton, have had little use for the law.

Open space in the city was long gone, plenty of affordable housing was available, and preservation of historic properties was not enough of a priority to justify a tax increase, according to Lawrence McCavitt, aide to state Senator Robert Creedon Jr., a sponsor of one of the proposals to expand the allowable uses of CPA money. Creedon, a Democrat whose district includes Brockton, filed legislation last year to open up CPA funds for greater use -- projects more suited to Brockton's needs, but ones also welcomed by smaller communities. The first time out, it failed.

This time around, such changes come as municipal budgets are tightening and more communities are eying preservation money for new uses.

Creedon's bill would redefine recreation so that preservation money could be used for parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields, as well as restrooms, storage and parking facilities, refreshment stands, and lighting associated with them. The spending could also include artificial turf, a controversial but widely used substitute for grass that many say permits longer seasons and tougher play.

At last week's State House hearing, a small but vocal minority argued that such changes are not appropriate.

Anne Hilbert of Weymouth, who said she joined about 30 opponents at the hearing, argues that if lawmakers want to change the bill, they should start all over and require communities to vote on it again.

"It's just an end-run around Proposition 2 1/2," Hilbert said. Proposition 2 1/2 prohibits communities from raising the total levy from property taxes by more than 2 1/2 percent a year.

According to Clarissa Rowe, chairwoman of the Community Preservation Coalition, some oppose ponying up any more tax money; others are critical of using CPA money for artificial turf on sports fields.

But Marc Draisen, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said he is "optimistic" about passage of the bill. He said his organization, which had a hand in crafting the latest version, fine-tuned the funding mechanism for CPA to make it more palatable to cities not yet involved.

Meanwhile, the proposal seems to be going over well with towns.

Easton is an example of a town that would welcome great er latitude with its CPA money.

After adopting the law in 2001, it initially spent its 3 percent surcharge to buy open space and restore historic properties.

But Easton officials now want more freedom with the money, according to David Colton, town administrator.

"We have a great deal of need for recreational areas," Colton said. "I would be in favor of broadening the law."

The same is true in Pembroke, where voters approved a 1 percent surcharge last fall.

"I think the more latitude they can give a town, the better," said Edwin Thorne, town administrator.

In Hingham, Melissa Tully, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen, said town officials would also support reform.

Some residents in Norwell want the preservation funds to expand their playing fields. Boudreau said one suggestion is to install artificial turf.

Alison Demong, chairwoman of the local Community Preservation Committee, has not yet taken a position on artificial turf, yet, but says said she welcomes the state reform to provide towns with more flexibility.

Connie Paige can be reached at cpaige@globe.com.