What is the CPA Trust Fund?
Cities and towns that adopt CPA obtain community preservation funds from two sources - a local property tax surcharge and a yearly distribution from the statewide CPA Trust Fund.
How does the statewide CPA Trust fund work?
Trust fund revenues are derived from a surcharge placed on all real estate transactions at the state's Registries of Deeds. The surcharge for most documents filed at the Registries is $50, which is immediately deposited the CPA Trust Fund held at the Department of Revenue (DOR). Municipal lien certificates are subject to a $25 surcharge. Depending upon how the real estate market is doing, the $50/$25 fees add up to approximately $60 million per year (Note: the original CPA legislation set these fees at $20 and $10 respectively. Subsequent legislation adjusted the fees to the current amounts as of December 31, 2019).
DOR tracks the receipts and posts a monthly report on these collections, and they use that data to provide an estimate of the annual trust fund distribution each spring. Every CPA community receives their distribution from the trust fund at a formula-based percentage of what they raised locally.
State Budget Surplus Funding
As CPA was adopted by more communities and the real estate market declined, the base trust fund distribution decreased dramatically. To address this decline, Governor Patrick signed legislation to update CPA in 2012. The bill included a new revenue source to provide additional funding for the trust, over and above the revenue from the recording fees at the state's Registries of Deeds. The state legislature can dedicate funding to the CPA Trust Fund from the state budget surplus, assuming that these funds available at the end of the budget process. As a result, CPA communities have received over $106M from state budget surplus funds since 2013. View the chart below to see the full history of state budget surplus funding that has been allocated to the CPA Trust Fund.
Further Resources:
- Learn more about the formula used to distribute the statewide CPA Trust Fund
- View yearly chart of your community's CPA revenue
Statewide CPA Trust Fund - Distribution History
Date of Distribution | Communities Receiving Distribution | Total Amount Distributed from Trust Fund (in millions) | Preliminary Base Trust Fund Distribution | State Surplus Funds Added (in millions) | Final Base Trust Fund Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/15/2002 | 34 | $17.85 | 100.00% | $0 | 100.00% |
| 10/15/2003 | 54 | $27.16 | 100.00% | $0 | 100.00% |
| 10/15/2004 | 61 | $30.82 | 100.00% | $0 | 100.00% |
| 10/15/2005 | 82 | $46.34 | 100.00% | $0 | 100.00% |
| 10/15/2006 | 102 | $58.66 | 100.00% | $0 | 100.00% |
| 10/15/2007 | 113 | $68.13 | 100.00% | $0 | 100.00% |
| 10/15/2008 | 127 | $54.61 | 67.62% | $0 | 67.62% |
| 10/15/2009 | 135 | $31.58 | 34.81% | $0 | 34.81% |
| 10/15/2010 | 142 | $25.87 | 27.20% | $0 | 27.20% |
| 10/15/2011 | 143 | $26.18 | 26.64% | $0 | 26.64% |
| 10/15/2012 | 148 | $27.71 | 26.83% | $0 | 26.83% |
| 11/15/2013 | 148 | $29.89 | 30.61% | $25.00 | 52.23% |
| 11/15/2014 | 155 | $24.76 | 22.36% | $11.40 | 31.46% |
| 11/15/2015 | 156 | $26.29 | 22.14% | $10.00 | 29.67% |
| 11/15/2016 | 157 | $26.72 | 20.58% | $0 | 20.58% |
| 11/15/2017 | 162 | $24.05 | 17.20% | $0 | 17.20% |
| 11/15/2018 | 172 | $23.60 | 13.80% | $10.00 | 19.01% |
| 11/15/2019 | 173 | $23.77 | 13.90% | $20.00 | 23.90% |
| 11/15/2020 | 176 | $55.67 | 28.63% | $0 | 28.63% |
| 11/15/2021 | 177 | $78.48 | 39.37% | $10.00 | 43.84% |
| 11/15/2022 | 187 | $64.63 | 30.32% | $20.00 | 38.51% |
| 11/15/2023 | 189 | $49.82 | 21.02% | $0 | 21.02% |
Grand Total Statewide CPA Trust Fund Distribution: $948.99 million