Help for Select Levels
Overview
DQS allows you to view aggregate data by state for one of eight different levels of government. State, all local, and all state and local government aggregate data are available for every state. Additionally, aggregate data are available for five types of local governments - county, municipal, township, special districts, and school districts. Not all types of local government exist in every state.
Notes for Use
Example: When "School District" is selected on this page, Property Tax revenues (or whichever variable is selected on the "Select Series" page) for all independent school districts are totaled and presented for the selected state(s).
Important: For inter-state comparisons, we highly recommend using the "State and Local" analysis level. The distribution of activity between state and local governments varies greatly from state to state: only the "State and Local" analysis level will fully capture government activity within a state. The "State and Local" series treats state and all local governments in a state as one observation; accordingly, transfers between state and local governments are not available at this level.
Additionally, we recommend combining the municipality and township level numbers for inter-state comparisons. Townships are only found in about half of all states. In addition, in some states school districts are dependent on a different level of government so school district revenues will be zero. See Hoo, Murray and Rueben (2006).
Data Availability
Finance data for some levels are not available for every year. These tables show which analysis levels are available for which years.
| Availability of US Totals, by year and level |
|---|
| Years |
State and Local |
State |
Local |
Local Government Detail |
| 2004 |
X |
X |
X |
|
| 2003-2001 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
| 2000-1998 |
X |
X |
X |
|
| 1997 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
| 1996-1993 |
X |
X |
X |
|
| 1992-1977 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
| Availability of State Totals, by year and level |
|---|
| Years |
State and Local |
State |
Local |
Local Government Detail |
| 2004 |
X |
X |
X |
|
| 2003 |
|
X |
|
|
| 2002 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
| 2001 |
|
X |
|
|
| 2000-1998 |
X |
X |
X |
|
| 1997 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
| 1996-1993 |
X |
X |
X |
|
| 1992-1977 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Note: Except for Census of Governments years (i.e., all those ending in "2" and "7"), the local government statistics in this data are based in part on a sample of local governments. They are therefore subject to sampling variability. Estimates of statistical errors for 1992 and later years are available from the Census Bureau. For earlier years, refer to the text in the report series, "Government Finances".
WARNING: FY 2003 and 2001 data for US Total of municipalities also includes townships.
Technical Notes
The Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual provides definitions for the different local governments in Chapter 3.1 - The Government Entity .
"Government services are provided through a complex structure made up of numerous public bodies and agencies. The Census Bureau identified 87,504 governments during the 1997 Census of Governments. In addition to the Federal Government and the 50 state governments, the Bureau recognizes five basic types of local governments, as follows (per 1997 Census):
- County Governments (3,043), which exist in all states except Connecticut and Rhode Island and in the District of Columbia, are created to provide general government activities in specified geographic areas. They include entities called boroughs in Alaska, parishes in Louisiana, and counties in all other states.
- Municipal Governments (19,372), which are established to provide general government services for a specific population concentration in a defined area. They include cities, boroughs (except in Alaska), villages, and towns (except in the six New England states, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin). Composite city-county governments are treated as municipal governments for Census Bureau purposes.
- Township Governments (16,629), which are established to provide general government services for areas without regard to population concentrations. They include towns in the six New England states, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin, and townships in eleven other states.
- Special District Governments (34,683), which are established to provide only one or a limited number of designated functions and having sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as independent governments.
- School District Governments (13,726), which are created to provide public elementary, secondary, and/or higher education and having sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as independent governments. They exclude school systems that are "dependent" on a county, municipal, township, or state government."
Additional information is available from Chapter 3.1 on -
Sources
- Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual, http://www.census.gov/govs/www/class.html .
- U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances and Census of Governments (1977-2004).
- Hoo, S., Murray, S., Rueben, K. "Education Spending and Changing Revenue Sources." Tax Notes. April 10, 2006. http://www.urban.org/publications/1000942.html
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