What The Worcester CPA Surcharge Will Cost Based On Worcester Stuff

WORCESTER, MA — Anyone who's lived in Massachusetts for more than a few years should be somewhat familiar with the Community Preservation Act.

As of this year, more than half of cities and towns in the state have adopted the CPA, which allows communities to build a pot of money through a surcharge on property tax bills — and matching funds from the state — to pay for things like building affordable housing, historic preservation and preserving green space. Local government officials can't dip into the pot: a local board oversees CPA funds and decides how to spend the money.

Most people are in favor of the things the CPA would pay for. It's the surcharge piece that turns some people off. (A minority of people: the Community Preservation Coalition says CPA ballot measures have a 77 percent success rate. For a recent example, 62 percent of Framingham voters voted in favor of CPA in 2020.)

In 2018, the group Yes For A Better Worcester attempted to get CPA on the ballot via a city council vote, but that failed. Current councilors Moe Bergman, Candy Mero-Carlson and George Russell voted against it in 2018, while Mayor Joe Petty and current councilors Sean Rose, Sarai Rivera and Khrystian King voted yes.

But in April, councilors voted 7 to 3 to put the item on the ballot. This time Mero-Carlson, Russell and Donna Colorio voted no with Bergman, who is a member of the historic preservation group Preservation Worcester, recused.

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce is leading the charge against the CPA, with chief lobbyist Alex Guardiola saying that it's not the right time to add a surcharge on top of tax bills — a reference to inflation jacking up prices on everything from Halloween candy to gas. Guardiola says Worcester should use its nearly $150 million in federal pandemic stimulus dollars on CPA-like activities instead. That money needs to be spent by the end of 2024, however — CPA would continue generating revenue forever — and city officials have already decided how to spend ARPA funds.

The chamber of commerce recently spent more than $41,000 to produce and air a television ad opposing the CPA, according to campaign finance filings — an amount of money could pay for nearly 1,000 years of annual CPA charges on a home valued at around $300,000. A separate group opposing the CPA raised about $1,800 this year, which mostly went to buying lawn signs.

Yes For A Better Worcester appears to be keenly aware of the cost piece of CPA. In campaign literature and online, the group has outlined that the 1.5 percent surcharge on your property tax bill would be pretty cheap. The average home price in Worcester as of Thursday was about $375,000, which would mean an annual CPA charge of $61. The first $100,000 of a home does not count toward the surcharge.

The "yes" campaign has raised and spent close to $6,000 in 2022 to support the ballot initiative, according campaign finance filings. But Preservation Worcester has raised about $49,000 for the yes effort, including contributions from major donors like the Wyman-Gordon Foundation, the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts and the Esler Family Foundation.

To put the CPA cost into perspective a bit more, we did the math on how much the surcharge would cost based on goods and services available to buy in Worcester TODAY. The bottom number shows what you could buy with the surcharge based on the given home value.

Wormtown Brewing

• House value: $300,000
• Product cost: $12 for a Be Hoppy six-pack
• Number of six packs: 3.75

Worcester's Best Pizza

• Home value: $600,000
• Product cost: $26 for a large cheese with one topping
• Number pies: 4.3 pies

George's Coney Island

• Home value: $375,000
• Product cost: $2.57 per dog, plus a $4.50 side of baked beans
• Number of beans and dog meals: 8.75

WooSox Game

• House value: $500,000
• Product cost: $24 per ticket, lower level in July
• Number of tickets: 3.75

Dunkin'

• House value: $750,000
• Product cost: $2.09 for a large hot coffee 5/days per week
• Number of weeks of getting coffee like this: 13

Wachusett Mountain

• House value: $400,000
• Product cost: $72, one adult p.m. weekend lift ticket
• Number of lift tickets: None, CPA is $4.50 cheaper

Worcester Palladium

• Home value: $350,000
• Product cost: $25.26, 0ne emo night ticket (with fees)
• Number of emo nights: About 2

Green Hill Golf Course

• Home value: $1 million
• Product cost: $1,400 unlimited annual pass (resident rate)
• Number of annual passes: None, annual CPA surcharge is about $1,200 less

Worcester Country Club

• Home value: $2 million
• Product cost: $6,000 (preview initiation fee rate, age 40+), $708 monthly membership fee, $125 food minimum
• Number of memberships: None, CPA is $14,193.50 less

Miss Worcester Diner

• Home value: $450,000
• Product cost: $19.95 for the Miss Woo PuPu (for two)
• Number of Miss Woo PuPus (for two): 4

Want to find out more on the CPA and what the surcharge might cost you? Here's the calculator.