To provide current estimates of state and local government financial
activity. The United States Code, Title 13, authorizes this survey and provides
for voluntary responses. All state and local governments in the U.S. Local governments
include counties, municipalities, townships, special districts and school districts. Data are obtained for revenue, expenditure, debt, and financial assets. Revenue
data include taxes, charges, interest, and other earnings. Expenditure data
include total by function (such as education and police protection), and by
accounting category (such as current operations and capital outlays). Debt data
include issuance, retirement, and amounts outstanding. Financial assets data
included securities and other holdings, by type. Data collection begins each October and continues for about 12 months. Reported
data are for each government's annual accounting period that ends on or before
June 30 of the survey year, with months covered varying by government. Survey
has been conducted annually since 1952. Periodic surveys of government finances
have been conducted since 1902. Survey has been conducted annually since 1952. A compilation of data from three sources: an enumeration of all 50 state governments,
a survey of 13,000 selected non-school local governments (or of all 87,000 local
governments for census years, years ending in “2” and “7”),
and data from Federal agencies. Collection methods vary by state and type of
government. On-site reviews of government records provide most data for state
government agencies, and for the 48 largest and most complex county and municipal
governments. By cooperative agreement, additional data for local governments
in about 35 states are consolidated and submitted by a single state agency (usually
in some form of electronic transmission). Data for some state agencies and about
7,500 local governments are obtained in a mail-out/mail-back survey. Local governments are selected for the survey in non-census years using a probability
sample based on the size of the unit. The probability of a government's selection
is based on its long-term debt or total expenditure. All counties with a population
greater than 100,000, municipalities with populations greater than 75,000, and
townships with populations greater than 50,000 were selected with certainty.
All school districts are in the sample with certainty. Certain functions of
special districts are also included with certainty. A new sample is usually
selected every 5 years, the most recent one being in fiscal year 2004. State and local government finance reports and data files are available about
12 months after the survey year. Tables provide summary data on financial activities
covering state and local, state-only, and local-only governments. Finance reports
include revenue by source, expenditure by function, indebtedness, and financial
holdings. In addition, downloadable files provide data in more detail, such
as for individual governments. The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses the data as a primary source for updating its measures of the government
sector of the National Income and Product Accounts. The Federal Reserve Board
uses the data as a primary source for its Flow of Funds Accounts. State and
local governments use the data to assess their financial condition, make peer-government
comparisons, plan new programs, and develop financial policies. Provides the most current, comprehensive and comparable source of data on state and local government finances. EXPLORE INFORMATION CONTINUE OVERVIEW
ANNUAL SURVEY OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCES
PURPOSE
COVERAGE
CONTENT
FREQUENCY
METHODS
PRODUCTS
USES
SPECIAL FEATURES
RELATED PROGRAMS
State Government Tax Collections Survey
State and Local Government Public-Employee Retirement
System Survey
Local Government School System Finance Survey
Annual Public Employment Survey