Under the tax line on a bill in 39 of this region's 101 towns sits a second, smaller charge: the Community Preservation Act surcharge. It funds open space, historic preservation, outdoor recreation and community housing, it was adopted by a town-wide vote, and it is the line most buyers meet for the first time on their own first bill.
The surcharge is a percentage of the property tax bill itself, not of the home's value, and every adopting town chose its own figure between 0.5% and 3%. 19 of the 39 charge the full 3%.
How It Is Actually Calculated
In 37 of the 39 adopting towns, the first $100,000 of a home's assessed value is exempt: the surcharge applies only to the tax on the value above that line. That is why the charge is smaller than the percentage suggests. A 3% surcharge on a $6,000 bill is not $180 if the first $100,000 of value, and the tax on it, comes off first.
2 towns adopted no residential exemption and apply the surcharge to the whole bill: Agawam and Goshen. Some towns also exempt low-income households entirely, which is claimed through the assessors rather than applied automatically.
The state adds a partial match from its own Community Preservation Trust Fund each November, which is the argument adoption campaigns lead with: the surcharge draws money into the town that residents alone do not supply.
A Quarter Century of Adoptions
The first adopters here voted in 2001: Agawam, Hampden, Easthampton, Southampton. The most recent is Sheffield in 2024. Adoption has come in waves rather than a steady drip, usually when a town sees a neighbour's trust fund pay for something visible.
Every adoption needed a majority at the ballot box, and the margins here ran from a coin flip to four to one in favour. A town can also amend or revoke by the same route, which is rare but legal, so the table below is a register of standing votes, not permanent law.
Every Adopting Town
The Community Preservation Surcharge in Every Adopting Town
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Each town's adopted surcharge percentage, the year of adoption, whether the first $100,000 of residential value is exempt, and the resulting charge on that town's median single family home.
| Town | Surcharge | Adopted | First $100,000 Exempt | On the Median Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agawam | 1% | 2001 | No | $48 |
| Amherst | 3% | 2014 | Yes | $222 |
| Becket | 1.5% | 2008 | Yes | $33 |
| Belchertown | 1.5% | 2005 | Yes | $72 |
| Conway | 3% | 2014 | Yes | $131 |
| Deerfield | 3% | 2007 | Yes | $131 |
| East Longmeadow | 1% | 2006 | Yes | $47 |
| Easthampton | 3% | 2001 | Yes | $117 |
| Goshen | 3% | 2007 | No | $137 |
| Granville | 1.5% | 2008 | Yes | $49 |
| Great Barrington | 3% | 2012 | Yes | $166 |
| Greenfield | 1% | 2020 | Yes | $31 |
| Hadley | 3% | 2004 | Yes | $123 |
| Hampden | 1% | 2001 | Yes | $49 |
| Hatfield | 3% | 2006 | Yes | $139 |
| Holyoke | 1% | 2016 | Yes | $28 |
| Lee | 1.5% | 2020 | Yes | $46 |
| Lenox | 3% | 2006 | Yes | $131 |
| Leverett | 3% | 2002 | Yes | $171 |
| Longmeadow | 1% | 2006 | Yes | $80 |
| Monson | 3% | 2006 | Yes | $106 |
| Northampton | 3% | 2005 | Yes | $166 |
| Northfield | 0.5% | 2009 | Yes | $13 |
| Pelham | 3% | 2011 | Yes | $109 |
| Pittsfield | 1% | 2016 | Yes | $27 |
| Sheffield | 1% | 2024 | Yes | $35 |
| Shelburne | 3% | 2022 | Yes | $102 |
| Shutesbury | 1.5% | 2008 | Yes | $69 |
| Southampton | 3% | 2001 | Yes | $137 |
| Southwick | 3% | 2002 | Yes | $105 |
| Springfield | 1.5% | 2016 | Yes | $39 |
| Stockbridge | 3% | 2002 | Yes | $123 |
| Sunderland | 3% | 2010 | Yes | $111 |
| West Springfield | 1% | 2012 | Yes | $27 |
| West Stockbridge | 2% | 2020 | Yes | $90 |
| Westfield | 1% | 2002 | Yes | $33 |
| Whately | 3% | 2008 | Yes | $125 |
| Wilbraham | 1.5% | 2004 | Yes | $86 |
| Williamstown | 2% | 2002 | Yes | $104 |
The line under each On the Median Home is its margin from this table's middle of $102: left of centre is below it, right of centre is above, and both sides are drawn to the same scale. The middle is this table's own and does not move when you sort. It is a distance, not a position in a league table, and nothing here is ranked.
What These Columns Mean
- Town
- The municipality. Links to its full tax record.
- Surcharge
- The adopted surcharge, as a percentage of the property tax bill after any exemption.
- Adopted
- The year the town's voters accepted the Community Preservation Act.
- First $100,000 Exempt
- Whether the town exempts the tax on the first $100,000 of residential value before the surcharge is applied.
- On the Median Home
- The surcharge in dollars on that town's median single family home, computed under the town's own exemption.
Cite: RE413. “The Community Preservation Surcharge in Every Adopting Town.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/community-preservation-act-surcharge/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
What This Does Not Mean
The surcharge is not a second tax rate and it does not compound: it is a percentage of the bill, applied once, after exemptions. On the median home in an adopting town here it runs from about $13 to $222 a year. Against the spread of the bills themselves, which run into the thousands, the bill is the number to compare first.
A town without the CPA is not levying nothing for these purposes; it is funding them from the general levy or not at all, and that choice shows up in its reserves and its town meeting warrants rather than on the bill. Each town's record states its own position, surcharge and the dollars on its median home, on its property tax page, and the calculator includes the surcharge where a town charges one.
Sources
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. Community Preservation Act adoption, surcharge percentages, exemptions and adoption votes, by municipality.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.