AMHERST — Amherst finished fiscal 2026 with $105 million in revenue, nearly $3.2 million more than estimated, driven by robust investment income and higher-than-anticipated motor vehicle excise, hotel and motel, and meals taxes.
In a quarterly update to the Finance Committee on Sept. 15, Finance Director Sean Mangano said investment income was the standout, bringing in $3.02 million, about $2.5 million more than the $500,000 projected at the start of the budget year.
The town spent and encumbered about $101.2 million of its $101.8 million budget last fiscal year, leaving money unspent on top of the revenue surplus.
Mangano said investment income used to total less than $200,000 a year but began climbing when interest rates rose. This year’s jump comes largely from money the town is holding for construction projects, including the Jones Library expansion and renovation and the recently completed Amethyst Brook School.
“We’re definitely in what I anticipate is a high point in investment income,” Mangano said.
He cautioned that the income depends on short-term interest rates, which can vary from
one year to next. Still, he said, the extra money could be put toward roads, sidewalks and other Town Council priorities.
Excise taxes went up, likely due to the cost of vehicles increasing, Mangano said, while the rise in hotel and motel and meals taxes points to healthy economic activity downtown.
“It’s a good sign those are coming in higher,” Mangano said.
The town doesn’t count cannabis tax revenue in its budget because that money goes to the reparations stabilization fund, which is expected to receive $48,178.
Property taxes fell short, coming in at $70.4 million against a $71.1 million estimate. Mangano said the $727,190 gap was almost entirely due to an abatement request from the owner of Olympia Place after a fire there, along with other abatement requests.
The town’s enterprise funds, which include sewer, water, solid waste and transportation, generally did better than expected. Sewer revenue was $762,138 above its $6.99 million projection, and water revenue was $638,581 above its $7 million projection.
Mangano said higher use of the water and sewer systems drove the increases. There is speculation that the ongoing water meter replacement on bigger facilities is providing more accurate information, where the Department of Public Works previously relied on estimates.
The increase in water and sewer use was also about evenly split between the University of Massachusetts, the town’s biggest user, and non-UMass accounts.
The solid waste fund got a boost from higher payments under a revenue-sharing lease for a cell tower at the Ruxton gravel pit, Mangano said.
The transportation fund was the lone enterprise fund to struggle. Revenue came in $53,209 below its $738,984 projection, while spending totaled $729,156, about $43,000 more than the fund took in.
Mangano said parking violation revenue came up short and officials are trying to figure out why fewer tickets were being written.
“There’s nothing that stands out to us in terms of a lapse,” Mangano said.
An internal group will recommend ways to raise parking revenue while cutting expenses, Mangano said.
