A little more than $3.3 million will likely be put in the city's Community Preservation Act till next week - money that can be used for open space and recreation, affordable housing or historic preservation projects.
The city's CPA fund accumulates each year through a combination of property tax surcharges and state matching grants.
William Durkee, the city's CPA program manager, said that it's estimated in this fiscal year the city will receive about $2.6 million through property tax surcharges.
It will also receive $729,000 in state matching grants.
Durkee said a certain percentage from both the anticipated tax surcharges and state-matching funds must be allocated for three types of uses.
"We must place (at least) 10 percent from each of those into three mandatory categories of open space, community housing and historic preservation," Durkee said.
The Community Preservation Committee will meet next Tuesday at 7 p.m. to review the state matching funds it's received in fiscal 2009 and the estimated money it will receive in tax surcharges, as well as to allocate the funds.
In the first two years after voters here adopted the Community Preservation Act in 2005, the city received a 100 percent match from the state for its local surcharge revenues.
But Waltham -like all cities and towns that have adopted the program - has seen its state match dwindle since then. That's mostly due to two factors - the slumping economy and an increase in the number of communities that have joined the CPA program, leading to a scarcity of state funds.
In Waltham, the state match dipped last year to 67 percent, then down to 34 percent this year, Durkee said.
Next year, he said it's forecasted that number could dip even lower, possibly to 28 percent.
Meanwhile, a bill is now winding its way through the Legislature, sponsored by state Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem, D-Newton, and state Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, which aims to guarantee cities and towns a minimum state match of 75 percent.
"As far as it's written, it's a great benefit to the city of Waltham," Durkee said.
The Community Preservation Committee has expressed support for the bill, as have local legislators.
As of this fiscal year, 142 cities and towns in Massachusetts have adopted the CPA act.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
