The states report the data on a biennial basis for odd-numbered data years. Local government highway finance consists basically of receipts, disbursements, and debt service for highways and, in some cases, disbursements of highway user revenue for nonhighway purposes. Local government highway receipts consist of receipts from local government, private funding, state government, and federal government. Current disbursements include capital outlay, maintenance, road and street services, general administration and engineering, and highway law enforcement and safety. Capital outlay includes right of-way, engineering, and construction.
Maintenance here is defined as physical maintenance.
Road and street services include snow and ice removal and other traffic service functions. General administration includes all administrative costs. Engineering refers to engineering services, as opposed to preliminary engineering included in capital outlay above. Highway law enforcement and safety includes police activities involving highway law enforcement and safety programs such as drunk driving reduction. Debt service on local obligations includes interest and redemption on bonds and notes earmarked for roads and streets.