EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, MAY 5, 1998 (TUESDAY) Public Information Office CB98-75 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail:pio@census.gov David Kellerman 301-457-1502 Local Government Revenues Surpass $757 Billion, Census Bureau Says Revenues of the nation's local governments exceeded $757 billion in 1995, according to tabulations of government revenues, expenditures, debts and assets released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The embargoed tabulations can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. After the release time, the data may be found at http://www.census.gov/govs/www/. The major share of local revenue dollars consisted of taxes ($261 billion), followed by state aid ($233 billion), user charges ($107 billion) and government-operated utility sales ($65 billion). Other findings from the 1995 tabulations include: - Expenditures for local and state governments totaled $1.4 trillion. - Expenditures for local governments were primarily for services such as education ($277 billion), hospitals ($39 billion), police ($35 billion), public welfare ($33 billion) and highways ($30 billion). - Local governments also had outstanding debts totaling $688 billion, interest payments on debts of $41 billion and cash and security holdings of $665 billion. More than 35 separate categories of revenues (such as property taxes, income taxes, general sales taxes, interest earnings and park and recreation fees) and 50 categories of expenditures (such as police, fire, highways, higher education, elementary and secondary education and interest on debts) are shown for the United States, states and local governments. Additional data collected in the 1995 Annual Survey of Government Finances cover capital outlays, short- versus long-term debt outstanding, utility spending and aid from the federal government. The data in this report are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error. Sources of nonsampling error include errors of response, non-reporting, and coverage. Measures of sampling variability, presented as relative standard errors, are shown in the Internet tables.-X-Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a username and password. The media-access server's Internet address is http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate any comments you may have about the site. The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
