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Holyoke City Council & Mayor Debate Contentious CPA Surcharge Reduction

Posted on: April 12, 2023 - 10:09am

Holyoke City HallOver the last week, the City Council and Mayor of Holyoke have weighed in on an effort to place a CPA surcharge reduction attempt on the ballot - however, the discussion has been contentious on all sides, with the measure being halted for the time being.

During the first week of April, the Holyoke City Council discussed the possibility of reducing their CPA surcharge from 1.5% to 1% - the council's order cited rising financial stressors for property owners as the main motivation behind the reduction. As the city's legislative body, the city council has the authority to approve changes to the surcharge or exemptions for their CPA program, but the measure must be subsequently ratified by voters at a ballot election before going into effect. Councilors that supported the surcharge reduction stated that voters should have a say in whether or not to scale back on the city's CPA program, while several opposing councilors questioned why such a proposal was being moved forward when their constituents support the CPA program by and large, and have voiced few concerns about the surcharge level. After debate, the order was narrowly passed in a split vote of 7-6, which would have placed the surcharge reduction on Holyoke's November 2023 local ballot election.

Just this week, however, Holyoke Mayor Joshua A. Garcia issued a veto on the City Council's order - not because he opposed the measure itself, but because he disagreed with the timing. Instead of placing the CPA surcharge reduction question on a local election, the Mayor argued that the City Council should instead delay the measure for a state or presidential election. In an explanation regarding his veto, Mayor Garcia stated that he feels an election with a higher turnout will "give a more accurate reflection of what the community wants." The City Council can still overturn the Mayor's veto with a two-thirds majority vote, but this appears to be an unlikely scenario considering the split vote to approve of the original measure.

Holyoke adopted the CPA program in 2016 with a 1.5% surcharge and exemptions for the first $100k of both residential and commercial property value, as well as a full exemption available for low-income and low-to-moderate-income seniors. Other CPA communities across the state have made attempts to change their local surcharge and exemptions in the past - for more information regarding these measures, you can visit the CPA Databank page.

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