City of Methuen Master Plan

Methuen Master Plan 2007
Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue
MUNICIPAL EXPENDITURE TRENDS
The City of Methuen had expenditures of $97.6 million in fiscal year (FY) 2005 representing an
increase of $30.3 million (45%) since FY 2000. As shown in Table 22, education ($50 million)
comprised over half of the City’s budget in FY 2005 with fixed costs ($11.5 million) being the
second largest component of the budget at about 12%. With the exception of other expenditures
($835,000) and culture and recreation ($232,000), all expenditure categories experienced growth over
the FY 2000 to FY 2005 timeframe, with education increasing by almost $19 million.
.
Table 30: General Fund Expenditure Trends 2000-2005
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
$ Change
00-05
%
Change
00-05
General Government $2,043,590 $3,343,253 $3,401,607 $3,900,922 $2,998,876 $3,145,200 $1,101,610 53.9%
Police $5,046,460 $5,579,491 $6,005,755 $6,141,224 $6,353,522 $6,753,728 $1,707,268 33.8%
Fire $5,156,657 $5,405,460 $5,706,516 $5,875,914 $6,098,357 $6,257,556 $1,100,899 21.3%
Other Public Safety $422,528 $599,309 $629,519 $666,344 $618,130 $630,115 $207,587 49.1%
Education $31,362,538 $41,947,441 $44,511,727 $45,365,832 $48,074,220 $50,014,423 $18,651,885 59.5%
Public Works $6,053,425 $7,403,976 $6,698,562 $7,677,933 $7,513,895 $8,768,178 $2,714,753 44.8%
Human Services $376,331 $622,540 $724,911 $746,151 $764,435 $804,817 $428,486 113.9%
Culture & Recreation $1,118,901 $533,197 $660,466 $950,439 $901,349 $886,760 -$232,141 -20.7%
Debt Service $7,846,263 $8,063,617 $8,623,025 $8,622,028 $8,304,881 $8,001,358 $155,095 2.0%
Fixed Costs $6,801,537 $7,633,841 $8,027,083 $10,942,140 $10,351,519 $11,471,313 $4,669,776 68.7%
Intergovernmental $298,814 $353,618 $360,204 $409,809 $969,530 $898,268 $599,454 200.6%
Other Expenditures $836,044 $1,375,936 $1,327,165 $144,785 $94,717 $972 -$835,072 -99.9%
Total $67,363,088 $82,861,679 $86,676,540 $91,443,521 $93,043,431 $97,632,688 $30,269,600 44.9%
Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue
MUNICIPAL SERVICE COSTS
The following analysis provides an estimate of how different land use types (both residential and
non-residential) could potentially affect the City of Methuen’s fiscal conditions. In order to calculate
these affects and for the purposes of this analysis, three fiscal scenarios (low, medium and high)
were developed. The low scenario does not include education costs but includes State aid and local
non-tax revenue. This represents the minimum marginal cost derived from a development. The
medium scenario includes education costs and State aid revenue, but does not include local non-tax
revenue (representing a conservative cost estimate). The high scenario includes education costs but
does not include State aid and local non-tax revenue. This scenario is one that represents the
highest potential cost estimate.
Municipal expenditures in FY 2005 for residential use range between $31.2 million and $94.0 million
depending on what municipal costs and revenue sources are used. Municipal expenditures in FY
2005 for non-residential use range between $2.55 million and $3.62 million, with a mid-point of $3.2
million.
As shown in Table 31 and based on the fiscal scenarios, residential costs range from $685 to $2,066
per person, $1,864 to $5,622 per household, or $0.67 to $2.02 per residential building square foot
(SF). Costs for non-residential development range between $186 to $264 per employee, $2,626 to
$3,733 per business establishment, or $0.34 to $0.49 per non-residential building SF.
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