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Municipalities spend their money on a variety of services, including education, transportation, health, welfare, safety and housing. Generally, larger municipalities spend a greater percentage of their budget on education services and health, hospitals, and public welfare. Smaller municipalities spend a greater percentage of their budget on transportation and environment, housing, and waste management. It is also important to note that functions and services in smaller cities may be provided by larger governmental units, such as counties, and thus would not comprise a large portion of their expenditures.
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Composition of
General Expenditure*,** |
All
Municipalities |
<50,000 |
50,000-
299,999 |
>300,000 |
|
Education Services*** |
12% |
7% |
14% |
14% |
|
Health, Hospitals, Public Welfare |
11 |
5 |
4 |
13 |
|
Transportation |
14 |
26 |
14 |
12 |
|
Public Safety |
21 |
23 |
24 |
19 |
|
Environment, Housing, Waste |
21 |
24 |
16 |
18 |
|
Governmental Administration |
7 |
10 |
8 |
5 |
|
Other |
14 |
4 |
20 |
19 |
*Table based on data from the 1997 Census of Governments, Volume 4: State and Local Finances. [1999]. Washington, DC: US Census Bureau, Table 13: Municipal Government Finances for Population-Size Groups of Municipalities by State: 1996-97.
**General expenditure is all government expenditure other than specifically enumerated kinds of expenditure classified as Utility Expenditure, Liquor Stores Expenditure, and Employee-Retirement or other Insurance Trust Expenditure.
***Not all municipalities have education responsibilities. There are public school systems operated by municipal governments in each of 12 states and the District of Columbia, but in most states some other pattern predominates. |
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