Seven New Communities Adopt CPA on Election Night
Nov. 7, 2012: It was a big night for CPA, as seven new communities voted to adopt the Act, including all four cities on the ballot. The success on election night brings the total of CPA communities to 155, or 44% of the cities and towns in the state. Beverly, Fall River, Salem and Somerville became the first cities to adopt CPA since 2008, while the towns of Canton, Somerset and Great Barrington also voted to join the program. Voters in Milton and Westhampton voted to defeat CPA. See the chart below for full election results, or the CPA state map.
Salem and Somerville became the first communities to pass the new "Blended" version of CPA, which was signed into law this past summer. This new type of CPA allows municipalities to adopt CPA with a minimum of a 1% CPA local property tax surcharge, but receive state CPA matching funds on other municipal revenues deposited in the their Community Preservation funds, up to 3% of their local property tax levies. For cities with diversified sources of municipal revenue, this feature allows communities to get more bang for their community preservation fund bucks.
In another first for CPA, West Springfield became the first community in the state to add the newly-authorized $100,000 commercial and industrial property exemption to their existing CPA program. This provision of CPA is designed to help small businesses by exempting the first $100,000 of commercial and industrial property value from the CPA surcharge. Salem and Somerville also adopted this exemption on election night.
| City/Town | Vote Tally | Result | Surcharge | Exemptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beverly | Yes: 10,027 / No: 9,147 | Pass | 1% | low income; first $100,000 - residential |
| Canton | Yes: 6,500 / No: 5,011 | Pass | 1% | low income; first $100,000 - residential |
| Fall River | Yes: 14,109 / No: 10,268 | Pass | 1.5% | low income; first $100,000 - residential |
| Great Barrington | Yes: 1,937 / No: 1,211 | Pass | 3% | low income; first $100,000 - residential |
| Milton | Yes: 6,453 / No: 8,255 | Fail | 1.5% | low income; first $100,000 - residential |
| Salem | Yes: 10,131 / No: 7,411 | Pass | 1% | low income; first $100,000 - residential; first $100,000 - commercial |
| Somerset | Yes: 4,659 / No: 4,254 | Pass | 1% | low income; first $100,000 - residential |
| Somerville | Yes: 24,358 / No: 7,714 | Pass | 1.5% | low income; first $100,000 - residential; first $100,000 - commercial |
| Westhampton | Yes: 464 / No: 540 | Fail | 3% | low income; first $100,000 - residential |