Finance Committee Backs CPA Article 3-2, Declines to Vote on $3 Million Override

BELLINGHAM — April 28, 2026 — Bellingham's Finance Committee voted 3-2 to recommend placing a Community Preservation Act surcharge on the November ballot while declining to weigh in on a separate $3 million operating override. Presenters Daryl Martin, a parks commissioner and Open Space Committee chair, and a co-presenter identified as Doug argued the proposed 1.5 percent surcharge on assessed property values — estimated to yield roughly $650,000 annually plus state matching funds — would let Bellingham recoup distributions from a statewide trust fund it has paid into since 2001 without collecting a share. The committee also reversed a prior 5-1 vote to unanimously recommend accepting a donated land parcel under Article 20 after the town assessor warned that declining would trigger eventual tax-title legal costs on a property generating just $80 in annual taxes. On the $3 million override, members reached consensus that the question — which would raise the tax rate roughly 61 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or about $300 a year on a $500,000 home — was a decision for individual voters, not the Finance Committee.