Federal, State, and Local Governments State and Local Government Finances Technical Documentation |
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Contents
The United States Census Bureau conducts an Annual Survey of Government Finances, as authorized by law under Title 13, United States Code, Section 182. Alternatively, every five years, in years ending in a `2` or `7`, a Census of Governments, including a Finance portion, is conducted under Title 13, Section 161. The survey coverage includes all state and local governments in the United States. For both the Census and annual survey, the finance detail data is equivalent, encompassing the entire range of government finance activities -- revenue, expenditure, debt, and assets. The tables and files contained here provide a comprehensive summary of the annual survey findings for state and local governments. The tables contain detail of revenue by type, expenditure by object and function, indebtedness by term, and assets by purpose. For the 2001 and 2003 annual finance surveys, the sample was redesigned to provide only national by level/type of government estimates with municipalities and towns combined into one category, therefore state level estimates for these years were not developed. Collection of Statistics on Governments The data collection phase for the annual survey made use of two methods to obtain data: mail canvass and central collection from State sources. In 28 states, all or part of the general purpose finance data for local governments was obtained from cooperative arrangements between the Census Bureau and a state government agency. These usually involved a data collection effort carried out to meet the needs of both agencies -- the state agency for purposes of audit, oversight, or information, and the Census Bureau for statistical purposes. Data for the balance of local governments in this annual survey were obtained via mail questionnaires sent directly to county, municipal, township, special district, and school district governments. School district data in 49 states were collected via cooperative arrangements with state education agencies (only Hawaii and the District of Columbia completed mail questionnaires). Data for state governments were compiled by analysts of the Census Bureau, usually with the cooperation and assistance of state officials. The data were compiled from state government audits, budgets, and other financial reports, either in printed or electronic format. The compilation generally involved recasting the state financial records into the classification categories used for reporting by the Census Bureau. The statistics in these files are in terms of current dollar amounts. They have not been adjusted for price or wage level changes occurring through the years. Data in this report pertain to government fiscal years that ended between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004. The following governments are exceptions, and are included as though they were part of the June 30 group: ending September 30, 2004, the state governments of Alabama and Michigan, the District of Columbia and Alabama school districts; and ending August 31, 2004, the state government of Texas and Texas, Nebraska and Chicago school districts. New York state ends its fiscal year on March 31, 2004, and beside those already mentioned, is the only other exception to the June 30 ending for state governments. Not all agencies of a government necessarily have a fiscal period that coincides with the central organization. Totals for an individual government, in those instances, are the summation of finances for all agencies with a fiscal period ending between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004. Nearly one-half of all county governments in the nation had a fiscal year corresponding directly with the calendar year 2003 – i.e., they ended their fiscal year on December 31, 2003. Over one-third of county governments ended their fiscal year in June. September and November were other common months in which county governments ended their fiscal years. About three-fourths of all municipal governments in the nation had a fiscal year ending in either December (40 percent) or June (33 percent). September and April were the next most common months in which municipal governments ended their fiscal years. Two-thirds of all townships had a fiscal year corresponding directly with calendar year 2003 – i.e., they ended their fiscal year on December 31, 2003. March, February, and June had the next most common fiscal year ending dates for townships. For special district governments there is a wide variety in fiscal year ending dates, with June 30 and December 31 being the most common. There is, however, no predominant pattern. By contrast, for school districts, June 30 predominates overwhelmingly, with the only exceptions being in Alabama, Nebraska, and Texas states, and Chicago city as noted previously. Reporting of government finances by the Census Bureau involves presentation of data in terms of uniform categories. This uniformity helps ensure comparable measures among the many governments covered in the survey, and also enables data to be aggregated by state area and nationally. Each category is defined using established criteria. Each state and local government financial item is analyzed and assigned to a classification category in accordance with the standard definition and criteria. While often similar to, or identical to, the classification used by the state or local government, there could be instances where a significant difference exists between the name of a state or local financial item and the final category to which it is assigned by the Census Bureau. Within the uniform, or standard, categories, like financial transactions are combined. For revenue, the financial categories involve grouping of items by source of revenue. Revenue items of the same kind are merged. For example, revenue amounts from ad valorem taxes are combined, regardless of the number of government funds involved. For expenditure items, financial transactions are classified both by function (police, highways, and the like), and by object category (capital outlay, current operation, and so forth). Debt items are classified by term (short and long-term), as well as by type of debt (guaranteed, revenue bonds) and to a limited extent, by purpose (function). Assets (or cash and security holdings) also are put into uniform categories. These items are grouped by type of holding, with holdings for insurance trust systems grouped separately from those of the general government. In spite of the effort to standardize the statistics to ensure comparability, users should be cautious about attempting to draw conclusions from direct comparisons of financial amounts for individual governments. Governments vary greatly in the types of services they provide, with patterns often, but not always, evident by state area. For example, some local governments directly finance and administer activities that elsewhere are undertaken by state governments. The share of government sector financial totals contributed by a state government or by local governments, therefore, differs materially from one state to another. Users can review the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual for additional information about the financial categories contained in the tables and files. The manual contains definitions of the general and specific categories. It also contains examples of the types of financial transactions for the categories, including many specific programmatic expenditures. Users need to keep in mind that the financial amounts in the tables and files are statistical in nature. They do not represent accounting statements or conditions. The local government statistics in this survey are developed from a sample survey. Therefore, the local totals, as well as national or state and local aggregates, are considered estimated amounts subject to sampling error. The statistics in this report that are based wholly or partly on data from the sample are apt to differ somewhat from the results of a survey covering all governments, but otherwise conducted using the same schedules and procedures. Estimates based on a sample survey are subject to sampling variability. The particular sample used is one of a large number of all possible samples of the same size that could have been selected using the same sample design. Each of the possible samples would yield somewhat different results. The standard error is a measure of the variation among the estimates from all possible samples and thus is a measure of the precision with which an estimate from a particular sample approximates the average results of all possible samples. Each viewable table contains a column that gives users the coefficients of variation that have been computed for these estimates. The coefficient of variation is the estimated standard error expressed as a percent of the estimated total or proportion. State government finance data are not subject to sampling. Consequently, State-local aggregates shown here are more reliable (on a relative standard error basis) than the local government estimates they include. Estimates of major United States totals for local governments are subject to a computed sampling variability of less than one-half of 1 percent. State and local government totals are generally subject to sampling variability of less than 3 percent. The estimates are also subject to the inaccuracies in classification, response, and processing. Efforts were made at all phases of collection, processing, and tabulation to minimize errors. However, the data are still subject to errors from estimating for missing data, errors from misreported data, errors from miscoding, and difficulties in identifying every unit that should be included in the report. Every effort was made to keep such errors to a minimum through care in examining, editing, and tabulating the data reported by government officials. Response to the sample survey is an important consideration in evaluating the quality of the estimates. The following table shows usable responses for the annual finance surveys:
There are two types of available data, viewable summary files and microdata. Each contains the comparable financial statistics. The types and number of files vary somewhat depending upon the survey year. The viewable summary tables contain aggregated summary data for the U.S. and, for years in which we incorporated a state by type sample, also each state. The summary data include items such as revenue by type, expenditures by function, indebtedness, and cash and security holdings.
For 1996 or earlier, these viewable text tables can be saved as ASCII text files. The basic file
name structure is:
YYSTLxx.TXT
Examples are --
96STLAL 1996, state and local, state of Alabama. For 1998 or later viewable tables were written in HTML. Summary Table Spreadsheet Files In addition to the individual viewable tables and files described above, the tables also are available for downloading in a spreadsheet format. For 2004, the file names are: 04slsstab1a.xls 04slsstab1b.xls The record content, as described in the next section, is nearly identical to that of the viewable tables, with self explanatory descriptive text for each row of data. State by Level-of-Government Summaries (Non-delimited) - Item Code Detail File This is an ASCII text, non-delimited file, but with a variable number of records per state and level combination. The file, with a single amount and associated coefficient of variation (CV) per record, can be useful for database and programming applications. This file contains detailed finance summary estimates and associated coefficients-of-variation for national summaries, or each state, and the District of Columbia summary, by State and Local Governments Total, State Government Only, Local Governments Only. The record layout and item code descriptions for this file are contained in the next sections. There are no summary totals (such as total revenue) in this file for any record. For 2004, the file name is: 04statetypepu.txt
State by Level-of-Government Summaries - (Comma-Delimited Data File) These downloadables are ASCII text, comma delimited files. They contain item code detail, each item code representing a financial category and transaction (property tax revenue, highway capital outlay, and so forth). For 2004, we utilized a state by level sample, and for each item code, the file contains three amounts "by level" within each U.S. summary, state or area. Level refers to three options -- all state and local governments, state governments only, and all local governments only. The file name is: 04statetypecd.txt The record layout is contained in the next section. The item code detail is shown at the end of this documentation. It applies to multiple data files and can be loaded into a file for application. Individual Unit File (Public Use Format) This is a Zip or self-extracting Zip file. When opened, it becomes an ASCII fixed length text file. It contains corresponding amounts for each finance item code within each government unit for all respondent records in the sample. This large file can be useful for programming and database applications. For 2004, the file name is: 04indunit.zip It contains the standard 31-character Public Use format Record Layout . When inflated, this file will be about 15-25 megabytes. Directory Information File (Basic identifier information for corresponding finance survey) This file is a Zip or self-extracting Zip file. When opened, it expands into an ASCII fixed length text file. For 2004, the file name is: fin04gid.zip
The detailed record layouts for the files are described below. These are presented by file. State by
Level/Type-of-Government Summaries (Comma-Delimited Files) - For State by Level/Type of Governments Sample The record layout for these files are shown below. Files are in a fixed-length comma-delimited format. Record 1 contains field labels. All amounts in the data file are in thousands of dollars (right-justified, zero filled). For the CV file (only available in some years), values are shown with 2-decimal places (right-justified, zero filled).
The item code detail is shown at the end of this documentation. It
applies to multiple data files and can be loaded into a file for
application. A Data Dictionary, containing a list of the item codes and their titles, follows the descriptions of the three types of files available via this Internet site, below. However, for a more detailed definition of each item code, please refer to the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual. Public Use File, ASCII Text Format Beginning with the fiscal year 1996 survey, this public use format became the standard format for all of the individual unit government finance series files containing detailed statistics by item code and individual government unit.
The 31 character record layout is described below.
A Data Dictionary, containing a list of the item codes and their titles, follows the descriptions of the files available via this Internet site, below. However, for a more detailed definition of each item code, please refer to the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual. State by Level/Type-of-Government Summary File, ASCII Text Format
A Data Dictionary, containing a list of the item codes and their titles, follows the descriptions of the files available via this Internet site, below. However, for a more detailed definition of each item code, please refer to the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual. Directory Information File, ASCII Text Format The record layouts are below. Files are an ASCII text, fixed length record format. They contain basic identifier information for each unit of government in the corresponding Individual Unit File in the annual finance survey.
Below are item codes and their titles, as included in the annual finance survey data files. Additional information about these codes, as well as descriptions and definitions, can be found in the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual.
The Internet site for the Census Bureau`s Governments Division contains other information that could be useful for interpreting and analyzing these data (tables and files), such as the 2002 Census of Governments State and Local Government Finances. An important information source for detailed definitions, classification issues, etc. is the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual For information about the tables, data files, or the state and local government finance survey program, users can contact at the Census Bureau: The telephone number is (800)242-4523. The address is: Finance Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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