Billerica CPC Advances FY27 Warrant Article With Disputed $36,000 Housing Services Line

BILLERICA -- April 9, 2026, Billerica's Community Preservation Committee voted 6-1 to advance a fiscal year 2027 warrant article including $36,000 for a regional housing services partnership with the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments. The lone dissenting vote came from member Michelle, who read aloud written guidance from Stuart, director of the Community Preservation Coalition, warning that using CPA funds to monitor existing affordable units "is problematic" under state no-supplanting rules. Jenny Reit, executive director of NIMCOG, told the committee the regional housing services office model has been running since 2010, has won a state Municipal Innovation Award, and is spotlighted on the Community Preservation Coalition's own website as an eligible use of community housing funds. Member Larry, who said he had shared earlier doubts, voted yes on the grounds that it is structured as a one-year trial to produce an inventory of affordable units, some of which may have quietly fallen off the town's books. The Select Board approved an intermunicipal agreement with NIMCOG at a parallel meeting the same evening.