Sunday, July 18, 2010

Update to State and Local Data: FY 2008

On July 18, 2010, usgovernmentspending.com updated its database with the latest data release on State and Local Government Spending and Revenue from the US Census Bureau. The latest data is for fiscal year 2008. Previously the state data displayed for 2008 was reported, and local data was "guesstimated" based on a crude projection of spending and revenue levels from 2007.
The update includes data for individual states and data and aggregate spending and revenue data for all states.
State tax data has been updated for FY 2009 using quarterly tax reports from the US Census Bureau. State tax data has been updated for FY 2010, using data for the final quarter, calendar 2010 second quarter, from the same quarter in 2009.
Here is the current status of state and local government spending and revenue data.
  • Data up to and including 2008 is actual data reported to and published by the Census Bureau.
  • State tax data for 2009 is actual data reported to and published by the Census Bureau in State Government Tax Collections.
  • State tax data for 2010 is actual data reported to and published by the Census Bureau in State Government Tax Collections for Q1, Q2, and Q3. Q4 uses FY 2009 data from the Census Bureau. Q4 data will be available at the end of September 2010.
  • Data for 2009 (except state tax data for 2009 and 2010) and subsequent years is "guesstimated" by projecting the change in each spending or revenue item between 2007 and 2008 forward. Maximum change is 15 percent. Minimum change is zero percent.
Caveat on "Guesstimated" Data
The crude "guesstimation" that usgovernmentspending.com applies to data after 2008 (the last year for which the US Census Bureau provides data) is a way to get a rough look at total government spending in the present year and the near future.
But in the current recession state and local spending is probably higher than "guesstimated" and revenue is probably significantly lower than "guesstimated."
Upcoming Data Updates
The Census Bureau will report state tax revenues for calendar 2010 Q2 on September 30, 2010.
The Census Bureau will release State Government Finances for 2009 (i.e. spending and revenue) in late Fall 2010.
The Census Bureau will next update State and Local Government Finances (i.e. spending and revenue data) in July 2011.

1 comment:

  1. Sir,

    Your guestimation about state spending going up is likely incorrect. As has been widely reported in the news, States have been slashing their budgets due to huge drops in revenue.

    As a result, the latest spending report from the National Association of State Budget Officers, which includes 2009 data, indicates that states experienced "outright declines" in spending when not including federal funds that are spent by states.

    http://www.nasbo.org/Publications/StateExpenditureReport/tabid/79/Default.aspx

    ReplyDelete

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