CPA tough to swallow

If the “cup of coffee” analogy hasn’t been used in the debate over the proposed adoption of the Community Preservation Act in Boston then count on it surfacing soon.

Yes, the campaign is underway to get Hub voters to approve a new surcharge on their property taxes, revenue from which would fund preservation of open space, rehabilitation of historic properties and affordable housing.

The Walsh administration has built a calculator on the city’s website, where property owners can figure out how much they’d owe. That’s what brought to mind Deval Patrick’s old analogy, that [insert capital project of the moment] would cost taxpayers only the price of the occasional Starbucks.

At a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce meeting Thursday Mayor Marty Walsh said the average Boston homeowner would pay $28 more on their tax bill each year if the law is approved. Boston is seeking a 1 percent surcharge, which is applied to a property’s net tax.

Walsh focused on the original goals of the CPA — open space protection, historic preservation and affordable housing. All well and good — but in reality the CPA has been twisted and expanded so much over the years that it now also allows for spending on ballfields, tennis courts, rail trails, skate parks, bicycle stands, war monuments, boardwalks and parking lots (among other parks-and-rec type expenses).

If a community sees those projects as priorities, well, more power to ’em. They should fund them in their local budgets, and pursue whatever state or federal grants get them to their fundraising goal.

But taxpayers shouldn’t be compelled to dig deeper to create what amounts to a slush fund for the simple purpose of propping up the municipal budget.