City of Methuen Master Plan

F ISCAL A NALYSIS
The following section summarizes fiscal conditions within the City of Methuen as well as provides a
comparative analysis of average revenues and expenditures for residential and non-residential
development. In order to complete this analysis, information was provided by the Massachusetts
Department of Revenue and the City of Methuen’s property assessment database. The information
presented profiles the City’s general fund revenue and expenditure trends, as well as a broad
comparative fiscal “yardstick” which may be used to measure the basic fiscal conditions related to or
derived from various residential and non-residential developments in the community 19 .
MUNICIPAL REVENUE TRENDS
The City of Methuen collects revenues for its general fund from a variety of sources including real
estate and personal property taxes, intergovernmental transfers (from the State and Federal
governments), as well as fees, fines, charges for services and other sources. According to fiscal data
provided by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, the City of Methuen had a total revenue
base of $100.6 million in fiscal year (FY) 2005 representing an increase of $48.5 million (93%) since
FY 2000. As shown in Table 29, taxes ($52.1 million or 52%) and State revenues ($39.2 million or
39%) represented the largest components of the City’s revenue stream in FY 2005.
Table 29: General Fund Revenue Trends 2000-2005
Total Taxes
(Net of
Refunds)
Total Charges
for Services
Total Licenses,
Permits & Fees
Total Federal
Revenue
Total State
Revenues
Total
Revenues from
Other Govts.
Total Special
Assessments
Total Fines &
Forfeitures
Total
Miscellaneous
Revenues
Total Other
Financing
Sources
Total Interfund
Operating
Transfers
Total
Revenues
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
$ Change
00-05
%
Change
00-05
$40,511,259 $42,546,206 $46,151,667 $49,424,018 $48,998,478 $52,096,015 $11,584,756 28.6%
$1,345,596 $1,504,421 $1,260,755 $1,544,332 $1,745,239 $1,892,864 $547,268 40.7%
$845,853 $774,562 $1,033,095 $779,383 $1,064,133 $1,085,498 $239,645 28.3%
$15,521 $0 $164,585 $166,922 $6,083 $0 -$15,521 -100.0%
$6,239,378 $34,616,307 $36,540,121 $36,014,457 $36,709,784 $39,247,303 $33,007,925 529.0%
$0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 0.0%
$108,126 $63,581 $59,555 $93,498 $93,903 $76,812 -$31,314 -29.0%
$272,484 $247,930 $225,897 $277,479 $353,363 $364,627 $92,143 33.8%
$702,209 $679,450 $201,764 $113,822 $786,946 $861,979 $159,770 22.8%
$3,900 $561 $173,829 $375,529 $301,974 $2,426,180 $2,422,280 62109.7%
$2,097,322 $2,218,519 $2,230,880 $2,576,321 $3,253,599 $2,589,381 $492,059 23.5%
$52,141,648 $82,651,537 $88,042,148 $91,365,761 $93,313,502 $100,640,659 $48,499,011 93.0%
19 It should be noted that this analysis should be considered as a generalized proxy for measuring the potential fiscal
conditions related to various residential and non-residential land uses, and should not be substituted for a
comprehensive fiscal impact analysis for a specific development program.
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