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Community Preservation Act

The Community Preservation Act (CPA) is a tool to help communities preserve open space, historic sites, create affordable housing and recreational facilities.  Wayland voted to adopt the CPA tax in 2002 and it is still in effect.  Please see the Assessor's Office for details.

CPA Process:

  • Town legislature appoints a committee of local people to draw up plans for use of the funds.
  • These plans are subject to local comment and approval.
  • If residents do not feel that the CPA is working as they expected, there can be a vote to repeal it.
  • There are CPA exemptions available for residents meeting specific criteria.

CPA Calculation:

The CPA surcharge is added to each Real Estate Tax bill.  The tax is calculated as follows:

  • Reduce the assessed value by $100,000;
  • Multiply the reduced value by the current tax rate;
  • Multiply the recalculated tax by 1.5%.

Example:  $600,000 less $100,000 = $500,000 x .01778 (rate of 17.78) = $8890 x 1.5% = $133.35 CPA tax.