For information on the Community Preservation Act (CPA) surcharge tax, as well as a list of most frequently asked questions, please click here.
The CPA surcharge is based on an individual taxpayer’s property assessment; therefore the CPA surcharge varies from one person’s bill to another person’s bill, unless their assessment happens to be the same.
An example of a tax bill and surcharge calculation is shown below using Belmont’s Fiscal Year 2012 median single family home assessed value and the FY2012 tax rate.
*The $100,000 CPA residential exemption applies on the first $100,000 of the portion of the assessed valuation classified as Class One, Residential, property on a property classified as a multiple use.
For FY2012, the surcharge is charged in two quarters, the 3rd and 4th quarters. In the above example, $112.54 is the entire FY2012 surcharge, where $56.27 is charged on the 3rd quarter tax bill, and $56.27 will be charged on the 4th quarter tax bill.
Subsequently (effective FY2013), the surcharge will be imposed on all preliminary and actual tax bills. The 1st and 2nd quarter tax bills will be based on 50% of the previous year’s CPA surcharge. For example, the surcharge on the 1st and 2nd quarter tax bills for FY2013 will reflect 50% of the FY2012 surcharge. The 3rd and 4th quarter tax bills will reflect the actual surcharge net of estimated 1st and 2nd quarter payments. For example, the actual surcharge appearing on the 3rd and 4th quarter tax bills for FY2013 will be based on the FY2013 tax rate and the FY2013 assessed values to be established in the fall of 2012.
Question 3 from the list of Frequently Asked Questions will launch the visitor into a worksheet where s/he only needs to enter the FY2012 assessment, and then the CPA surcharge amount will calculate for you.
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