Where the Money Comes From
Property taxation and state aid make up the overwhelming majority of Fitchburg's operating revenue. Below is the FY2026 recap as filed with the Mayor's budget, grouped by major category.
By Category
What each category is, where it comes from, who controls it, and any tax rates or fees that apply.
This is property tax - the money Fitchburg collects from everyone who owns a house, building, or land in the city. It's by far the single biggest source of money the city has to spend.
Money the state sends Fitchburg specifically to help pay for the public schools. Almost all of it is a program called "Chapter 70," plus some smaller payments tied to kids who go to school somewhere other than a regular Fitchburg public school.
Money the state sends Fitchburg that isn't tied to schools. Most of it is general-purpose aid the city can spend on anything - police, fire, roads, whatever it needs. The rest pays the city back for tax breaks it's required by law to give veterans, blind residents, seniors, and surviving spouses, plus a little extra for city-owned land the state can't tax and for the public library.
Bills the state sends Fitchburg instead of aid - money the city owes for regional and state services, taken right off the top of the aid it would otherwise receive. Think of it as the opposite of the state aid categories above: money going out instead of in.
Money the city collects locally that isn't property tax: the fee you pay to register your car, extra pennies on the dollar when you eat out or stay in a hotel, trash pickup fees, permits, parking tickets and other fines, interest the city earns on its bank accounts, and a few other odds and ends.
Money the city expects to collect but keeps in a separate bucket from its everyday income: ambulance bills, a payment from the regional vocational school for sharing a police officer, and money back from grants to cover employee benefit costs.
Money that moves around inside city government rather than coming from taxpayers directly: the water and sewer departments chipping in for shared costs, leftover money from the property tax abatement account, and money saved up from prior years that the city decides to spend.
Full Revenue Recap, FY2026
| Category | FY2026 |
|---|---|
| Prior Year's Levy Limit | $68,632,786 |
| Add: 2 1/2% | $1,715,820 |
| Add: New Growth | $700,000 |
| Subtotal - Levy Limit | $71,048,606 |
| Actual Levy - Adjusted for Rounding | $71,048,606 |
| Less: Reserve for Abatements | $-950,000 |
| SUB TOTAL - TAXATION | $70,098,606 |
| Education - Chapter 70 | $86,211,388 |
| Education - Charter Tuition Reimbursements | $1,362,647 |
| Education - School Choice Receiving Tuition | $600,130 |
| Less: Offset | $-600,130 |
| SUB TOTAL - STATE AID - EDUCATION | $87,574,035 |
| General - Unrestricted General Government Aid | $10,739,130 |
| General - Veterans' Benefits | $474,746 |
| Exemptions: Vets, Blind, Surviving Spouse, Elderly | $201,595 |
| General - State Owned Land | $99,324 |
| General - Public Libraries | $143,944 |
| Less: Offset - Public Library | $-143,944 |
| SUB TOTAL - STATE AID - GENERAL | $11,514,795 |
| Assessment - Mosquito Control Projects | $-103,211 |
| Assessment - Air Pollution Districts | $-11,493 |
| Assessment - RMV Non-Renewal Surcharge | $-92,120 |
| Assessment - Regional Transit | $-1,049,628 |
| Assessment - Special Education | $-40,772 |
| Assessment - School Choice Sending Tuition | $-2,796,259 |
| Assessment - Charter School Sending Tuition | $-4,842,902 |
| SUB TOTAL - STATE ASSESSMENTS | $-8,936,385 |
| Motor Vehicle Excise | $4,492,958 |
| Other Excise - Rooms | $1,265,000 |
| Other Excise - Meals | $370,000 |
| Other Excise - Cannabis | $400,000 |
| Penalties/Interest on Taxes | $714,000 |
| Payments In Lieu of Taxes | $124,000 |
| Charges for Services - Trash | $2,267,200 |
| Other Charges for Services | $22,660 |
| Fees | $231,750 |
| Rentals | $10,000 |
| Department Revenues - Cemetery | $41,600 |
| Other Department Revenues | $156,000 |
| Licenses and Permits | $1,060,800 |
| Fines and Forfeitures | $140,400 |
| Investment Income | $500,000 |
| Reimbursement for Related Exp - CDBG | $50,000 |
| Reimbursement for Related Exp - Airport | $50,000 |
| Medicaid Reimbursement | $682,500 |
| Other State Revenue - recurring | $15,000 |
| SUB TOTAL - LOCAL RECEIPTS | $12,593,868 |
| Fire - Ambulance Service Fees | $540,000 |
| Reimbursement from Monty Tech - SRO | $76,000 |
| Reimbursement for Fringes - Grants | $50,000 |
| SUB TOTAL NON-RECURRING REVENUE | $666,000 |
| Reimbursement for Related Exp - Water | $1,452,300 |
| Reimbursement for Related Exp - Sewer | $1,555,300 |
| Overlay Surplus | $700,000 |
| Available Funds/Transfers (one time) | $4,297,163 |
| SUB TOTAL OTHER REVENUE SOURCES | $8,004,763 |
| TOTAL OPERATING REVENUE | $181,515,682 |