Census of Governments Methodology
Census of Governments Methodology
The Census of Governments is conducted in years ending in '2' and '7'.
Each topic area has its own data collection procedures:
2012
Government Organization (Lists & Structure of Governments)
Conducting legal research to determine whether an organization should be classified as a government, and confirming the continued existence of governments, their administrative structure, and their activities; ultimately, counting the number of governments by type of government.
Government Employment and Payroll
Obtaining the number of people employed by governments, by full-time and part-time status, and the payroll amounts.
Government Finance
Obtaining detailed information about the revenues, expenditures, debts, and assets of governments. Financial information is collected from multiple sources:
State Governments
Data include state-run universities and other public agencies that are dependent on the state government, even if their financial accounts are computed separately from the state budget. Details:
Local Governments
Such as counties, cities, townships, and special districts.
Government Finances Collected by Topic Instead of by Type of Government
Governments often treat financial accounts for these topics separately from their other activities, and they often are conducted by different types and levels of government:
Public School Finances
Details on the collection and methodology of Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data may be found in the introduction of the report.
Public Pensions
Obtaining detailed information about the revenues, expenditures, debts, and assets of governments. Financial information is collected from multiple sources: