2022 Election Day Coverage - Big Wins Across the Board for New CPA Communities
This year on Election Day, six communities voted on Community Preservation Act adoption on their local ballots – and we’re excited to announce that the CPA campaigns in most of these communities saw fantastic results.
The towns of Boylston, Natick, Shelburne, and Westborough, as well as the city of Worcester, all succeeded in passing their respective CPA adoption ballot measures. The stand-out result from this group was in the town of Natick – the town first attempted to adopt CPA back in 2006, and failed at the ballot with roughly 61% of voters turning down the measure. Now, the Natick campaign managed to pull off a complete reversal, with 63% of voters approving of CPA adoption during yesterday’s election. The towns of Boylston, Shelburne, and Westborough also had great turnouts: Boylston and Shelburne both won with 59% voting yes, and Westborough passed with 54% voting yes.
It’s also notable that Worcester voted to become a CPA community, as this was the first time the city had ever placed CPA adoption on the ballot. Worcester is the second largest city in Massachusetts, and their adoption of CPA continues the recent trend of cities in the Commonwealth recognizing the benefits of the Community Preservation Act. Worcester’s successful vote means that 8 out of the 10 largest cities in the state have now adopted CPA.
Unfortunately, not all of the local campaigns were able to reach a CPA victory this year. Advocates in the town of Burlington put together a robust adoption campaign with a fantastic series of educational videos to explain all the different elements of CPA – however, an opposition campaign battled against their efforts in the weeks leading up to the election, ultimately resulting in a disappointing loss.
We’ve created the chart below, breaking down how each community voted on CPA in further detail. These successful campaigns have brought the statewide total of CPA municipalities up to 194 - a stunning accomplishment!
Preliminary CPA Adoption Results from November 8th, 2022:
| City/Town | Result | Vote Tally (Preliminary) | Surcharge | Exemptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Boylston | PASS | Yes: 1,491 (59%) No: 1,046 (41%) | 1% | first $100,000 residential, low income & low/moderate income senior homeowners |
| Burlington | FAIL | Yes: 4,157 (40%) No: 6,327 (60%) | 1.5% | first $100,000 residential, first $100,000 commercial, low income & low/moderate income senior homeowners |
| Natick | PASS | Yes: 9,756 (63%) No: 5,674 (37%) | 1% | first $100,000 residential, low income & low/moderate income senior homeowners |
| Shelburne | PASS | Yes: 457 (59%) No: 322 (41%) | 3% | first $100,000 residential, first $100,000 commercial, low income & low/moderate income senior homeowners |
| Westborough | PASS | Yes: 3,880 (54%) No: 3,361 (46%) | 0.5% | first $100,000 residential, first $100,000 commercial, low income & low/moderate income senior homeowners |
| Worcester | PASS | Yes: 18,976 (52%) No: 17,426 (48%) | 1.5% | first $100,000 residential, first $100,000 commercial, low income & low/moderate income senior homeowners |
Further Resources:
- Worcester says OK to Community Preservation Act - Telegram & Gazette
- Worcester Voters Approve Community Preservation Act - This Week in Worcester
- Burlington 2022 Election Results: Voters Reject CPA - Patch
- Natick Voters OK CPA By Wide Margin - Patch