Cities and towns that adopt the CPA obtain community preservation funds from two sources - a local property tax surcharge and a yearly distribution from the statewide CPA Trust Fund. Trust fund revenues are derived from a surcharge placed on all real estate transactions at the state's Registries of Deeds. Each CPA community receives their distribution from the trust fund at a formula-based percentage of what they raised locally. For more information on how the statewide trust fund works, click here.
The number of communities that have adopted CPA has risen at the same time that the slowing economy has caused the trust fund revenues to decline. Funds from the statewide CPA Trust Fund were distributed to CPA communities at the match rate of 100% from 2002 until 2007. In more recent years however, the base trust fund distribution has fallen to below 30%.
If you want to know the details of your community's trust fund distributions, click here.
Statewide CPA Trust Fund - Distribution History
| Date of Distribution | Number of Communities Receiving Distribution |
Total Amount Distributed (in millions) |
| 10/15/2002 | 34 | $17.8 |
| 10/15/2003 | 54 | $27.1 |
| 10/15/2004 | 61 | $30.8 |
| 10/15/2005 | 82 | $46.3 |
| 10/15/2006 | 102 | $58.7 |
| 10/15/2007 | 113 | $68.1 |
| 10/15/2008 | 127 | $54.6 |
| 10/15/2009 | 135 | $31.6 |
| 10/15/2010 | 142 | $25.9 |
| 10/15/2011 | 143 | $26.2 |
Grand Total Statewide CPA Trust Fund Distribution: $387.1 million
