Final FY19 State Budget Includes $10 Million in Surplus Funding for CPA

Aug. 1, 2018: Last night, the state legislature ended their formal sessions for the year, and with their adjournment so ends the hope of  passing legislation to increase the CPA recording fees at the state's Registries of Deeds. But there was one bit of good news for CPA communities in the frantic final days of the session, as state budget surplus funds were allocated to the CPA Trust Fund.

Similar to the previous five years, language was included in the FY19 budget that would provide up to $10 million in surplus funding to the CPA Trust Fund. The outlook for this funding is much better than in 2016 and 2017, during which there was no surplus funding available when the state closed its books. Unlike the past two years, the state has a substantial budget surplus as reported in this recent article in State House News. However, legislators can spend from this surplus right up until October 31st, so the funding for the CPA Trust Fund won't be confirmed until then.

Should the full amount of $10 million be available, it will increase the round one CPA Trust Fund distribution by about five percentage points for each CPA community. So, if the Department of Revenue's initial estimate of an 11.5% match is accurate for this November, the extra $10 million would increase this figure to approximately 16%. Communities that assess the full 3% surcharge would receive additional funding on rounds 2 and 3. The final percentage match will depend on how the surplus funding shakes out and how well the Trust Fund collections fare over the next few months.

While the lack of a permanent solution for the CPA Trust Fund is certainly disappointing, we are grateful to the legislature and the Baker Administration for the surplus funding to support this year's CPA Trust Fund distribution.