CHAPTER 7. REVENUE
Contents and Abstract:
7.1 Revenue Definition
- 7.11 Refunds and Correcting Transactions
7.2 General Revenue
- 7.21 Taxes (and the Visibility Test)
- 7.22 Intergovernmental Revenue
- 7.23 Current Charges
- 7.24 Miscellaneous General Revenue
7.3 Liquor Store Revenue
7.4 Utility Revenue
- 7.41 Intergovernmental Revenue Codes for Utilities
7.5 Insurance Trust Revenue
Description Sheets:
Descriptions of Tax Categories
Descriptions of Intergovernmental Revenue Categories
Descriptions of Current Charges Categories
Descriptions of Miscellaneous General Revenue Categories
Descriptions of Liquor Store and Utility Revenue
Categories
Descriptions of Insurance Trust Revenue Categories
This chapter explores the various types of revenue sources available to governments
and how they are classified for Census Bureau purposes.
Revenue includes all amounts of money received by a government from external sources
during its fiscal year (i.e., those originating "outside the government"), net of
refunds and other correcting transactions, other than issuance of debt, sale of
investments, and agency or private trust transactions. Under this definition,
revenue excludes amounts transferred from other funds or agencies of the same
government.
Revenue comprises amounts received by all agencies, boards, commissions, or other
organizations categorized as dependent on the government concerned (see
Chapter 3). Stated in terms of the accounting procedures from which these data
originate, revenue covers receipts from all accounting funds of a government, other than
intragovernmental service (revolving), agency, and private trust funds.
Revenue of business-type activities of governments (utilities and other commercial or
auxiliary enterprises) is reported on a gross basis. That is, related expenditures
are not deducted from their revenues to derive net revenue amounts (see
Note 1).
The following types of receipts are excluded from revenue:
- Taxes and other amounts paid under protest and held in suspense accounts subject
to possible refund. Such amounts are not reported as revenue unless and until the
protest is decided in the government's favor (see Section
6.71 on Suspense Transactions).
- Proceeds from borrowing, whether short- or long-term, except contingent loans and
advances which are reported as intergovernmental revenues (see
Section 6.41).
- Recoveries or refunds of amounts spent in the same fiscal year, which are
deducted from expenditures (see Section 6.54).
- Proceeds from the sale of investments and the repayment of loans, except for
contingent loans as mentioned above. Any recorded profit or loss from the sale of
investments, however, is reported as revenue or expenditure, based on the situation.
- Transfers from agencies or funds of the same government (see
Section 6.6).
- Agency or private trust transactions, where the government is acting on behalf of
others (see Section 6.5).
- Noncash transactions, such as receipt of technical services, commodities,
property, noncash gifts or bequests, and other "receipts-in-kind."
Government revenues are categorized according to the nature of their source. All
revenue falls into one of the four sectors of government described in
Chapter 3.
Revenue data are adjusted for refunds and other correcting transactions. The rules
for refunds of taxes are different than those for other revenues. See
Section 6.54 for details.
General revenue comprises all revenue except that classified as liquor store,
utility, or insurance trust revenue. Generally, the basis for this distinction is
not the fund or administrative unit established to account for and control a
particular activity, but rather the nature of the revenue source involved.
Within general revenue are four main categories: taxes, intergovernmental revenue,
current charges, and miscellaneous general revenue. Each is described in detail
below.
Taxes are compulsory contributions exacted by a government for public purposes, other
than for employee and employer assessments and contributions to finance retirement
and social insurance trust systems and for special assessments to pay capital
improvements. Tax revenue comprises gross amounts collected (including interest and
penalties) minus amounts paid under protest and amounts refunded during the same
period. It consists of all taxes imposed by a government whether the government
collects the taxes itself or relies on another government to act as its collection
agent (see below).
The visibility test. One important feature of tax revenue is the need to pass
a "visibility test." That is, the tax levy must be visible to the taxpayer as being a
tax and not buried under the guise of another revenue. Take, for instance, a tax on
utility services provided by the government levying the tax. If the utility bill does
not itemize the tax but incorporates it into its user charge rate (therefore being
invisible to the customer as a tax), then that so-called "tax" is reported as a
utility revenue for Census Bureau purposes.
Assignment of tax revenue. The classification of tax revenue sometimes gives
rise to the issue of which government should be credited with the tax. This
situation occurs whenever one government collects taxes imposed by another.
In determining the assignment of taxes, the Bureau gives primary consideration to the
government that actually imposes the tax and usually credits that government with
the tax collection. The government imposing a tax is the jurisdiction whose
governing body adopts the legislation or ordinance specifying the type of tax, scope,
and rate and requiring its payment. Generally, if another government collects a tax
for the levying unit, then that government is considered to be acting as a collecting
agent and is credited only with any amount it retains as reimbursement for
administration or other costs. These guidelines apply to all taxes, whether levied
under general municipal powers, charter powers, or specific state legislative
authority.
A locally-imposed tax whose ordinance or statutory authorization specifies a
distribution of funds to other jurisdictions (either mandatory or optional) is
credited to the imposing government; payments to the other units are treated as
intergovernmental transfers. Taxes adopted by a government in response to requests
from other jurisdictions who may then share in the proceeds also are credited to the
imposing government, the distribution being treated as intergovernmental transfers.
State government provisions also affect the assignment and classification of local
taxes. A state-mandated tax required to be levied by a local government is
credited to the local government imposing the tax. Similarly, that portion of a
state-enacted tax which is locally collected and retained is credited as a
tax of the collecting agency; if there is a mandatory distribution to other
local governments of the taxes collected, each of the participating governments is
credited with the amounts received as tax revenue. On the other hand, if there is a
voluntary sharing of funds, these transactions are classified as
intergovernmental transfers. State or local government legislation which provides
that the imposing government waive credit for part or all of the amounts transferred
to other jurisdictions does not alter these guidelines.
The examples below illustrate the various types of arrangements and how they are
handled in this classification scheme:
- For a state government, local collection of state-imposed taxes is classified as
state tax revenue*.
- State government distribution of its tax proceeds to local governments (e.g., on
a formula basis) is treated as intergovernmental expenditure of the state and as
intergovernmental revenue of the local governments. This is true even for amounts
designated as the "local share" of state-imposed taxes so long as the tax proceeds
are collected by the state or transferred to the state by local government collection
agents before their distribution.
- On the other hand, if the state collects a tax imposed by local governments, the
collection and distribution to the imposing local governments is treated as an agency
transaction; that is, the receipts are reported entirely as tax revenue of the local
governments and not as either a state tax or state intergovernmental expenditure*.
- Proceeds from taxes imposed by one local government but collected for it by
another are reported as tax revenue of the imposing government, not the collecting
one*.
- In some cases a state government mandates that a specific tax be imposed by local
governments, sets a tax rate, and mandates how the proceeds from the tax
are to be redistributed locally. Such tax revenue is classified as a state tax
with subsequent intergovernmental payments to the local governments receiving
the revenue. This type of situation occurs where a state mandates countywide levies
for local schools, for example. The proceeds are redistributed to local schools
in a manner designed to equalize educational spending, but without regard
to the county wherein the tax is originally collected.
* Monies retained as a collection fee, however, are reported as tax revenue of the
collecting government.
Refunds of taxes. Refunds for taxes originally paid in either the current or
prior fiscal years are deducted from gross collections in the same year refunded.
Discounts to taxpayers for prompt payment or for collecting consumer taxes also are
deducted from gross tax revenue. The cost of collecting and administering taxes,
however, is reported as an expenditure (for Financial Administration, code 23),
not as an offset to taxes.
Taxes on government utilities. Taxes are often imposed on publicly-owned
utilities as on private ones. These amounts are reported as tax revenue for Census
Bureau purposes. Payments-in-lieu-of-taxes from a utility operated by another
government, however, are treated as intergovernmental revenue. (Payments-in-lieu-of-taxes
from a private utility are reported under Miscellaneous General Revenue, NEC,
code U99.) Both taxes and payments-in-lieu-of-taxes received by a government from a
utility which it operates are treated as an interfund transfer and are not reported
as either revenue or utility expenditure.
Taxes are classified according to the type of tax imposed. Unlike most other finance
statistics, they are not categorized along any functional lines.
Intergovernmental revenue comprises monies from other governments, including grants,
shared taxes, and contingent loans and advances for support of particular functions
or for general financial support; any significant and identifiable amounts received
as reimbursement for performance of governmental services for other governments; and
any other form of revenue representing the sharing by other governments in the
financing of activities administered by the receiving government. All
intergovernmental revenue is reported in the general government sector, even if it
is used to support activities in other sectors (such as utilities).
Intergovernmental revenue excludes amounts received from the sale of property,
commodities, and utility services to other governments (which are reported in
different revenue categories). It also excludes amounts received from other
governments as the employer share or for support of public employee retirement or
other insurance trust funds of the recipient government, which are treated as
insurance trust revenue (see Section 6.45).
Intergovernmental revenue is classified by function and by the level of government
where it originated (i.e., Federal, state, or local). The transfer of Federal aid
through the state government is reported as intergovernmental revenue from the state
at the local level.
This category comprises charges imposed for providing current services or for the
sale of products in connection with general government activities. Amounts
designated as current charges are reported on a gross basis without offsetting the
cost to produce or buy the commodities or services sold. Utility service charges are
excluded here and reported under Utility Revenue.
For the Federal Government, this category included revenue from premiums related to
non-social insurance programs such as crop and farm mortgage insurance, home mortgage
insurance, and the like.
This category comprises all other general revenue of governments from their own
sources (i.e., other than liquor store, utility, and insurance trust revenue).
A classification change effective with 1987-88 data had a major effect on this
category. Interest revenue necessary to pay the interest expenditure on all
public debt for private purposes is now reported under Interest Earnings, code
U20. Previously, this treatment was limited to mortgage revenue bonded debt and was
classified under Rents, code U40.
Liquor store revenue comprises only receipts from sales and associated services or
products of liquor stores owned and operated by state and local governments. It
excludes any application of general revenue for liquor store operations as well as
receipts from licenses or other liquor taxes collected by liquor stores or systems
(including general sales tax collections). All taxes collected through liquor store
operations are classified as tax revenue.
Utility revenue comprises receipts from sales and directly related services and
by-products of the four types of state and local government utilities recognized by
the Census Bureau: water supply, electric power, gas supply, and public mass transit
systems. Utility revenue is reported on a gross amount without deducting its related
expenditures.
Utility revenue excludes any identifiable amounts received from sales to the parent
government. Assessments or contributions of utility employees that are received by
public employee retirement systems are classified as insurance trust revenue.
Utility revenue also does not reflect any application of general revenue to utility
purposes nor does it include any of the following receipts even when received by
utility agencies or funds: interest on investments; rents from leases and other
earnings from nonoperating property; grants, shared taxes, or any other form of
intergovernmental aid (not to be confused with sales to other governments as
customers); taxes imposed by public utilities; and special assessments for utility
capital improvements. These are classified in other revenue categories.
Utility revenue includes contributions from other governments for construction of a
joint utility project ("payments-in-aid of construction") or for debt service of a
utility consortium IF the contributions are treated as part of the utility's basic
rate structure. (These situations generally arise when a government's electric power
utility is a major provider of electricity to other utilities who redistribute it to
the ultimate consumers.) If not, then the revenue is reported under intergovernmental
revenue.
Utility revenue is categorized according to the type of utility involved.
Effective with fiscal year 1987-88 data, the Bureau created intergovernmental revenue
codes for utilities. Despite the fact that these categories possess utility function
codes (B91, C92, D93, etc.), they are classified as general revenues. Note that
these categories are used to record intergovernmental transactions that were being
reported previously under other intergovernmental revenue codes (i.e., B47, B89, C47,
C89, D47, or D89).
Sale of utility services or commodities to other governments continues to be recorded
as a utility revenue (i.e., A91, A92, A93, or A94).
Insurance trust revenue consists of contributions distinctively imposed for the
support of public employee retirement and social insurance systems plus net earnings
on their investment assets. Insurance trust revenue excludes (as interfund transfers)
contributions from the government which administers the system, whether they are paid
on behalf of its employees covered by the plan or for supplemental support (see
Note 2). Also excluded from insurance trust revenue and classified
as general revenue are tax receipts credited directly to insurance trust funds and
intergovernmental aid, such as grants and shared taxes for support of insurance trust
activities (see Note 3). Excluded entirely as revenue (insurance
trust or general) are proceeds from borrowing for insurance trust purposes.
Insurance trust revenue is classified according to the major types of insurance trust
systems recognized by the Census Bureau and by type of receipt (contribution or
investment earnings).
- Exception is Net Lottery Revenue (code U95), for which the
costs of prizes are deducted from gross receipts. See
Section 12.2 for details. citation.
- Such contributions by the administering government, however, are
recorded under special exhibit codes and included in insurance trust revenue when
data are published solely for insurance trust systems. See Chapter
11 for more information on these exhibit codes. citation.
- On the other hand, funds from other governments which represent the
latter's employer share of contributions to an insurance trust system to which their
employees are members are classified as insurance trust revenue. citation.
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