Governor’s Community Compact Program Accepts Barnstable’s Application

CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Barnstable Town Hall.

HYANNIS – The town of Barnstable’s application to participate in Governor Charlie Baker’s Community Compact program has been accepted, according to Town Manager Tom Lynch’s office.

The program is designed to promote best practices in municipalities.

Lynch said the program acts as a partnership between the town and the state.

The Baker/Polito administration instituted the Community Compact program as a voluntary mutual agreement.

Lynch said, “We as a community will agree to best practices and we select to implement them within two years. Once you make the submission, there’s a written agreement that’s generated between the municipality and the commonwealth. Then the commonwealth agrees to provide incentives to either help meet those best practices and certainly you get extra points on certain grants and grant programs.”

The town will hold a signing ceremony on November 19 with Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito.

Lynch said all the towns participating in the program will have access to ways to solve municipal problems through best practices.

Barnstable submitted two projects to the program. The first is under the category of information technology and transparency and involves having budget information on the town website.

The software, called Open Budget, allows citizens to track the town’s spending, budgetary performance, revenues and expenditures, and, as Lynch said, “kind of get a flavor for how their tax dollars are being spent and whether services are being developed.”

The second best practice the town of Barnstable is submitting is under the category of housing and economic development.

Lynch said, the project is to update the town’s housing assessment done last year, update the town’s five-year housing production plan and look at the changing demographics in town, including the housing needed for young families.

Lynch said he hopes to complete both projects in this fiscal year.

Wellfleet and Nantucket are the two other Cape and Islands communities that have submitted applications to participate in the compact.