CPA Adoption Success: Pepperell Votes to Become 189th CPA Community

The Community Preservation Act continues to see exciting results in 2022 - last night, the town of Pepperell voted to become the 189th CPA community, joining the town of Lakeville which voted earlier in the month to do the same. Pepperell's successful adoption vote marks the 17th consecutive CPA adoption success in recent years, as every municipality that has placed CPA on the ballot since 2018 has passed the measure.

Pepperell ran an enthusiastic local campaign since placing CPA on the ballot during their 2021 Fall Town Meeting, with advocates participating in local interview segments to spread the word, a CPA campaign website that allowed residents to determine their local CPA surcharge amount, as well as flyers and presentations to educate voters about the benefits of the program. By the end of the election, the preliminary vote count was 637 voting YES, 438 voting NO, which means the town will now adopt a 1% CPA surcharge with exemptions for the first $100,000 of residential property and for low-income and low/moderate-income senior homeowners. Pepperell's local surcharge is expected to raise approximately $180,000 annually, and the town will also be eligible for annual distributions of additional funding from the statewide CPA Trust Fund.

We're expecting even more CPA adoption news over the next few weeks. There's still one more town voting on CPA this week, and several other communities will be deciding at their Town Meetings whether or not to place CPA adoption on the November ballot. Keep an eye on our CPA Upcoming Elections page to track all of the new developments.