# Presentation: 224103

## U.S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

- U.S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

- Christopher Pece
- Michael Yamaner
- Governments Division
- 301-763-1503

- UNDERSTANDING  FEDERAL STATISTICS  SEMINAR
- GOVERNMENTS DIVISION DATA

**Notes:**
Give your background

Let them know that they can ask questions throughout

## Topics to Cover

**Introduction to Governments Division**
- Basic Programs
- Federal Statistics
- Reimbursable Surveys
- Conclusion

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Introduction – discuss the main objectives of Governments Division...offer evidence why government statistics are important.

Basic Programs – describe the 3 programs that represent the baseline for all of our statistical work...they are government organization, finance, and employment.

Federal Statistics – GOVS collects some Federal Expenditure data on behalf of other agencies.

Reimbursable Surveys – we have contracts with other agencies to collect more detailed statistics on criminal justice and schools than are required from our basic programs.

## Introduction to Governments Division

- Main Purposes of Governments Division Programs:
- To provide economic statistics about Governments
- They provide the government counterpart to business, industry, and services economic data

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Provide Economic Statistics – specifically state and local government finance and employment statistics.

Provide the public sector counterpart to the private sector economic data within other divisions of the Census Bureau.

Why are government statistics important?

## Introduction to Governments Division

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

-  Government as an employer:
-  15.8% of civilian labor force
- 	2.0% - Federal government
- 13.8% - State and local government

**Notes:**
1 out of every 6 workers in the U.S work for a government agency.

## Introduction to Governments Division

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

- Government as a Producer (CY 2002)
- Share of Gross Domestic Product
-  19.1% for all governments
- 	  6.7% - Federal government
-    12.4% - State and local government

**Notes:**
Governments comprise almost 1/5th of the GDP

6.7% from the Federal Government

12.4% from State and Local governments

## Introduction to Governments Division

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

- Government as a source of personal income
- (CY 2000)
-  21.9% derived from government sources
-  9.0% from salaries and wages
-  12.9% from transfer payments to persons

**Notes:**
22% of personal income in the U.S. is derived from government source...including:

9% from salaries and wages..of which many of us benefit from

And

13% from transfer payments such as Social Security and Welfare.

## Introduction to Governments Division

- Governments and the Fortune 500
- Measuring corporate sales and government revenue, all 50 states would make the Fortune 500 list
- Two states in top 10 (CA=5th, NY=9th)
- 15 states in top 100
- Smallest state (SD) is about 350th

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

## Introduction to Governments Division

- Governments and the Fortune 500 (continued)
- Local governments –12 more would make list
- 3 counties
- 7 cities
- 2 school districts
- What’s true in national economy is true in individual states – i.e. governments are important economic entities in each state’s economy

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
12 Local Governments would make the Fortune 500 list, including Fairfax county

This Fortune 500 example illustrates the importance of Governments as economic entities within each state...

## Introduction to Governments Division

- Main Users of Governments Division Data
- Bureau of Economic Analysis
- Federal Reserve Board
- Congress and state legislatures
- Public interest groups
- Businesses
- State and local governments

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
BEA – National Income and Product Accounts
Federal Reserve Board – Develop the Flow of Funds
Congress and State Legislators – Use GOVS data to compare their state with other states with regards to government finances and employment...specifically when it comes to developing legislation.
Public Interest Groups
Businesses – will use our data at the micro level to see which governments spend money on projects that apply to their business...for example highway construction companies might use GOVS data to identify the governments that spend the most money on highway construction/maintenance.
State and Local governments – for comparison purposes

## Introduction to Governments Division

- Primary emphasis:
- State and local governments
- Some Federal government data, including:
- Employment and payroll data
- Expenditures, by function, program, and geography

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Read the slide and say...

I will go into more detail throughout this presentation...

## Topics to Cover

- Introduction to Governments Division
**Basic Programs**
- Federal Statistics
- Reimbursable Surveys
- Conclusion

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
I will now begin discussing the Basic Programs of Governments Division. These core programs are the reasons we exist. 

The Federal Statistics we collect and our reimbursable surveys have been developed from these basic programs.

## Basic Programs - Overview

- Government Organization
- 	How many governments are there?
- 	How are governments defined?
- Government Finances
- 	How much money do governments take in?
- 	How much do governments spend?  On what?
- 	What’s government debt load?
- Government Employment
- 	How many public employees?
- 	What do they do (major function)?
- 	How much are they paid?

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Government Organization – key to what we do...we must identify and classify governments before we can collect data on their finances and employment...

Government Finances – read the slide...this is the information we seek in our State and Local Government Finance survey...

Government Employment – how many people are employed by the Federal, state , and local governments...how many work for schools, police departments...and how much are they paid...

I will now go into more detail on all three of these basic Governments Division programs.

## Basic Programs - Government Organization

- Classification of governments is our most basic and essential activity.
- Why?  Because........
- Structure of governments vary
- Responsibilities of governments vary
- Best data source – Government Organization
- Vol. 1, Number 1 Government Organization
- Vol.1, Number 2 Individual State Descriptions
- http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/govern.html

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Classification of governments is our most basic and essential activity. Our economy is divided into the private and public sector. It is our responsibility to identify the public sector and classify governments accurately to avoid undercounting or double-counting.

Why is Government Organization essential?...b/c
The structure of governments vary...some county areas have dependent school districts that rely on the county for funding...whereas other county areas have independent school districts that fund themselves

The responsibilities of governments vary...one county might supply sanitation services...another county area might have a special district that provides sanitation services.

## Basic Programs - Government Organization

- There are about 90,000 governments in the US (2002 official count = 87,576)
- Illinois had the most governments (6,904) and Hawaii the fewest (20)
- Cook County, Illinois, had more governments than any other county (539)
- Texas led nation with 254 county governments, Connecticut and Rhode Island have none.

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
These examples provide a good illustration on how governments structure themselves....

## Basic Programs - Government Organization

- Definition of government
- Existence as an organized entity – legal organization & corporate powers
- Governmental character – public officers & accountability
- Substantial autonomy
- Fiscal independence

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
We identify and classify governments based on the following criteria:

Existence as an organized entity
Is it accountable to the public...does it have elected officials?
Does it have substantial autonomy?
And is it fiscally independent?

The last two are important in classifying governments as independent governments or as dependent agencies. Independent governments are autonomous and fiscally independent...dependent agencies fall under the autonomy of a parent government.

## Basic Programs - Government Organization

-                    Government Units: 2002 and 1952
- 				  **2002**		  **1952**
** ****Total governments**	87,576		116,805
**U. S. Government**		         1		           1
**State Governments**	       50		         48
**Local Governments**	87,525		116,756
** ****General Purpose**		38,967		  37,061
**  ****County**			  3,034		    3,052
**  ****Sub-county**		35,933		  34,009
**    ****Municipal**		19,429		  16,807
**    ****Township**		16,504		  17,202
** ****Special Purpose **		48,558		  79,695
**  ****School District**		13,506		  67,355
**  ****Special District**		35,052		  12,340

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This chart illustrates the number of governments in 1952 and 2002...

The number of local governments has decreased over the last 50 years due to the consolidation of school districts. School districts have decreased from 67,000 to 13,500.

One thing that I want to point out is the increase in special districts. One of the main reasons for this is the increase in Financing authorities. In order to avoid debt limitations, local governments have set up independent special districts to issue debt on their behalf. These Financing Authorities will send the proceeds from the debt issuance to the local government. The local governments will then send the necessary funds each year to pay off the principal and interest to the financing authority.

## Basic Programs - Government Organization

- CITY OF NEW YORK, NEW YORK ID no. 33 2 031 001.
-   Board of Education of New York City School District
-   City University of New York (community colleges)
-   Fashion Institute of Technology, Manhattan
-   Airports (John F. Kennedy International and La Guardia)
- Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation
-   Brooklyn Public Library (public libraries in Brooklyn)
-   Business Improvement Districts (BID)
-   Business Relocation Assistance Corporation of New York City
-   City ferries to Staten Island (Dept. of Transportation)
-   City markets and piers (Department of Ports and Terminals)
-   City public health services (Department of Health)
-   City water and sewer system (Dept. Environmental Protection)
-   Community planning districts
-   Economic Development Corporation of New York City
-   Financial Services Corporation of New York City
-   Municipal broadcasting station WNYC (Dept. of General Services)
-   New York City Educational Construction Fund)
-   New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
-   New York City Housing Authority (assisted housing)
-   New York City Housing Development Corporation
-       Housing New York Corp.
-  Residential Mortgage Insurance Corporation
-   New York City Industrial Development Agency

- New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority
-  New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation
-   New York City Public Development Corporation
-   New York City School Construction Authority
-   New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA)
-       Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Auth. (MABSTOA)
-  South Brooklyn Railway Company (freight service only)
-   New York City Transit Construction Fund
-   New York City Transitional Finance Authority
-   New York City Water Board
-   Queens Public Library (public libraries in Queens)
-   Shea Municipal Stadium, Queens
-   Special Assessment Districts (SAD)
-   Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (operates Battery Parking Garage,
-    Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Cross-Bay Veterans
-    Memorial Bridge, East Side Airlines Terminal and Parking Garage, Henry
-    Hudson Bridge, Marine Parkway Bridge, New York Coliseum, Queens-
-    Midtown Tunnel, Riis Park Parking Field [Queens], Throgs Neck Bridge,
-    Triborough Bridge, and Verrazzano Narrows Bridge)
-   Trust for Cultural Resources
-   United Nations Development District and Corporation

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This slide lists some of the dependent agencies for New York City...In fact, if I were to list all of NYC’s dependent agencies, I would need 7 slides.

The point I want to make with this slide is that it is important for data users to recognize the number of agencies that we include with NYC. If you were to review NYC finances, then you would need to understand that these agencies are included in that NYC data.

## Basic Programs - Government Organization

- Other uses of Government Organization data
- Written into some statutes
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Family Medical Leave Act – 50 employee threshold

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Fair Labor Standards Act – an example of the courts using GOVS data involves a dispute between a county sheriff that was working part time at the county jail. The county sheriff thought that he deserved overtime pay, because the sheriff’s office and jail were both dependent on the county. The county argued that the sheriff worked for two distinct agencies...the courts used the Governments organization data to rule in favor of the sheriff, b/c both the sheriff’s office and jail were county dependent as defined by GOVS.

Family Medical Leave ACT – Employees working for a small independent special district would not qualify...but the same number of employees working for a dependent special district might qualify if the parent city or county totaled more than 50 employees.

## Basic Programs - Government Finances

- Revenue (100+ data items)
- Taxes
- Service Charges
- Intergovernmental Revenue
- Expenditure (300+ data items)
- Object – current expenditures, construction outlays....
- Function – education, highways, police, welfare...

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
The State and Local Government Finance Surveys collects data on the following items:

Revenues which includes among other things - Taxes (property taxes, sales taxes, license taxes, etc...), service charges (water, electric, sewer, etc..), and intergovernmental revenue

Expenditures – GOVS classifies expenditures by object and function..and this illustrated best with a matrix...for example we collect construction expenditures for education and highways....

## Basic Programs - Government Finances

- Debt (70 data items)
- Debt issued
- Long-term debt
- Revenue bonds
- Assets (20 data items)
- Available cash
- Invested funds
- Trust funds

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
The 3rd type of state and local gov’t finance data that we collect is debt...we divide up debt into short term (less than 1 year) and long term (more than 1 year); and Guaranteed Bonds (Full faith and credit of the government) vs Non-Guaranted Bonds (Revenue Bonds)

The 4th type of state and local gov’t finance data that we collect is assets..including cash on hand, investments, trust funds, and others.

## Basic Programs - Government Employment

- Two major data elements
- Number of employees – Full and part-time
- One-month payroll (March)
- About 25 different functions
- Highways, police, welfare, education
- Functions defined same as for finances

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Two major data elements for the Government Employment survey: the number of people employed by the government and the amount they are paid (calculated from one month’s payroll in March)

This data is collected by the same functions that we use in the finance survey...including highways, police, welfare, etc...)

## Basic Programs - Periodicity of Data

- Quarterly – taxes, finances of Public Employment Retirement Systems
- Annually – finances, employment
- Census of Governments
- Quinquennial – every five years since 1957
- Organization, finance, employment

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Quarterly Tax Survey is a leading indicator of Government activity, and the Quarterly Survey of Public Employment Retirement Systems is very important b/c it contains data on over $2.3 trillion in assets that are being invested in various markets.

## Basic Programs - Census vs. Annual

- No difference in data elements or content
- Difference in scope
- Census = Universe
- Annual = Sample

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

## Basic Programs – Interesting Facts

- Response is voluntary
- Virtually all data are publicly available –
- 	no confidentiality requirement
- Web Collection Instruments

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Response is voluntary – provides a challenge for getting high response rates, b/c governments face no penalty for refusing to submit data. We have mitigated this risk by forming relationships with various state agencies to collect their local government data from one source..in these cases the state agency requires the local govt’s to report to the state, and the state in turn sends the data to us.

Public Data – leads to more scrutiny..we find out when we make mistakes...

Web Collection Instruments – beginning with the 2002 Census of Governments, all of our forms are available on the internet for users to submit directly online...

## Basic Programs – Data Uses

- Calculation of important economic measures
- GDP – Bureau of Economic Analysis
- Flow of Funds – Federal Reserve Board
- Time series analysis
- Comparative analysis

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Why do people use our data?..

They use it to calculate important economic measures...

Time series analysis – for example looking at a states property tax revenue over time

And Comparitive analysis – for example comparing the property tax revenue of two states...

I will now show you some examples of our data...

## Basic Programs – Data Uses: Time Series Analysis

- The Change in Importance to Local Governments of Property Taxes
- As a Percentage of Total General Revenue

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This chart illustrates the importance of property taxes as a percent of total general revenue...I want to make one point regarding this chart...as you can see from 1982-2002 property taxes as a percent of revenue remained relatively static...this is common with government data...

However you will notice that from 1972-1982...the percent decreased...this type of drastic shift is uncommon, and would need to be researched by analsysts further to justify the shift.

## Basic Programs – Data Uses 

- Percent Distribution of State Government Tax Revenue: 2000

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This chart represents the percent distribution of State Government Tax revenue...I want to point out two things from this chart:

Notice how Florida has no income tax...they can get away with this by exporting their tax revenue to tourists..as you can see by the 76% total sales and gross receipts taxes.
The second point I want to make is that most states have a balance between their sales tax and income tax to reduce the risk of one source decreasing dramatically...For example, if the tourist industry crashes in Florida, they will struggle to make it up through other means...

## Basic Programs – Data UsesState and Local Government Employment (Per 10,000 Pop.)

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This chart represents State and Local Government Employment per 10,000 pop for March 2002...

One thing I want to point out here is that Education represents half of all state and local government employment...

## Topics to Cover

- Introduction to Governments Division
- Basic Programs
**Federal Statistics**
- Reimbursable Surveys
- Conclusion

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
That concludes my presentation on the Basic Programs of Governments Division. Are there any questions?

I now want to briefly discuss our Federal Statistics program. We work with the Office of Management and Budget to collect and analyze Federal Expenditure data.

## Federal Statistics - Expenditures 

- Federal Government Domestic Outlays by:
- Geographic Area – state, county, place
- Type of Outlay – grants, direct payments, procurement contracts, salaries and wages
- Specific Program – Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, military pay, Highway Trust Fund, student loan subsidies, and more

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Some of the Federal Expenditure data that we collect are as follows:

By Geographic Area – How much fed money goes to each state and county

Type of Outlay – how much of that federal money is in the form of grants, direct payments, and salaries

Finally we collect data on Specific programs – MediCaid, Social Security, military, etc...

## Federal Statistics - Expenditures

- 	**Federal Expenditures in California**
**Percent of U.S. Total – FY 2003**
- TANF (public welfare)            	 		21.6
- Supplemental Security Income Payments		15.1
- Defense Procurement					13.0
***Population******	******	******	******	******	******	******12.2***
- Military Payroll					11.3
***All Federal Funds******	******	******	******	******	******  9.8***
- Social Security (Retirement)				  9.6
- Non-defense Procurement				  8.7
- Agricultural Assistance – Direct payment		  3.8

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This chart illustrates Federal Exp. In California as a percent of the U.S. Total for 1993.

As you can see...California has 12% of the U.S. population, and receives 10% of Federal Expenditures...this seems relatively equitable on the surface...but as with all statistics...more research needs to be done to determine the factors behind the numbers.

Another interesting note is that California receives 1/5th of Federal Expenditures for public welfare...

## Federal Statistics - Expenditures

- Per Capita Ranking in Federal Funds
- Florida — FY 2003
***Total Direct Expenditures...........................30***
-   Direct Payments - Retirement & Disability........3
-   Other Direct Payments.................................6
-   Procurement Contracts..............................29
-   Salaries and Wages..................................34
-   Grants..................................................49

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This chart illustrates Florida’s Ranking in Federal funds per capita for 2003...

Florida is 30th overall in receiving federal funds...it is not surprising to see it rank 3rd in Retirement and disability payments due to the large number of retirees in Florida.

## Topics to Cover

- Introduction to Governments Division
- Basic Programs
- Federal Statistics
**Reimbursable Surveys**
- Conclusion

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Are there any questions regarding Federal Statistics?

I want to now begin discussing our reimbursable survey programs in Governments Division.

We have been contracted out by other agencies to conduct detailed surveys on criminal justice programs and education. Our basic programs collect organization, finance, and employment figures for criminal justice and education, but agencies like the Bureau of Justice statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics have contracted us out to collect more detail than we have in our basic programs.

## Reimbursable Surveys – Main Aspects          

- Criminal Justice Statistics
- 	How much money is spent on criminal justice?
- 	How many employees, jails, prisoners?
- Education Statistics
- 	What are revenue sources for education?
- 	How much is spent per pupil?

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
As I just mentioned, the main aspects of our reimbursable programs are:

Criminal Justice and Education

## Reimbursable Surveys – Criminal Justice Statistics 

- Criminal Justice Functions
- Police
- Corrections
- Courts and other legal activities
- Types of Data
- Expenditure
- Employment
- Characteristics of criminal justice agencies, facilities, and populations

-    UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Our Criminal Justice surveys focus on expenditures, employment info, and other characteristics covering a variety of functions like police, corrections, and courts.

Some of the characteristics that are collected include # of prisoners, prisoner gender, race, etc...information that we don’t collect as part of our basic programs for government organization, finance, and employment.

## Reimbursable Surveys – Criminal Justice Statistics

- Adults Under Correctional Supervision in 2000
- Total (number)..................................6,488,300
-                                               (3.1% of adult residents)
- Percent distribution:
- Probation...............................................59%
- Prison...................................................20%
- Parole...................................................11%
- Jail.......................................................9%

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
This chart illustrates the number of Adults under correctional supervision...

1 out of every 33 adults is under correctional supervision...which on the surface I find a little disturbing...

But even more interesting is that of those adults, 70% are on the streets through probation or parole.

## Reimbursable Surveys – Elementary & Secondary Education 

- Detailed finance data – revenues, expenditures, debt, financial assets
- Non-fiscal data – general descriptive information plus counts of students and staff

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

**Notes:**
Finally, I want to briefly mention our Elementary and Secondary Education Statistics...like our criminal justice programs...our education surveys request more detail than our basic programs...

These surveys collect final data, as well as non-fiscal data regarding information on schools, students, and teachers.

## Topics to Cover

- Introduction to Governments Division
- Basic Programs
- Federal Statistics
- Reimbursable Surveys
**Conclusion**

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

## Conclusion 

- Primary Mission – collect, analyze, and publish data on state and local government organization, finance, and employment.
- GOVS also contracts with other agencies to collect, analyze, and publish data on federal expenditures, criminal justice programs, and schools.

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS

## Conclusion 

- Data quality is extremely high – constant internal and external review
- For more information – http://www.census.gov/govs/www/index.html

- UNDERSTANDING FEDERAL STATISTICS