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State and Local Tax Policy: What are the sources of revenue for local governments?

State and Local-graph2-Local-Gen-Revenue-2008
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State and Local-graph2-Local-Gen-Revenue-2008

Local governments collected general revenues totaling $1.4 trillion in 2008. A little less than 40 percent of that revenue came as transfers from the federal and state governments. The remainder came from local taxes, fees, and miscellaneous receipts.

  • Local governments received about $525 billion in intergovernmental transfers in 2008, which accounted for 37 percent of their general revenues.
  • Property taxes constituted the largest source of local governments’ own revenue in 2008, totaling $400 billion, or 28 percent of general revenues.
  • Charges and miscellaneous receipts accounted for 23 percent of local government revenues in 2008, about $330 billion.
  • Sales and gross receipts taxes, individual income taxes, and other revenues made up the remaining 12 percent of local general revenues, yielding a little over $150 billion in 2008.

See Also

The Numbers: What is the breakdown of tax revenues among federal, state, and local governments?

State and Local Tax Policy: What are the sources of revenue for state governments?

Data Sources

U.S. Census Bureau, "State and Local Government Finances"

Local General Revenue, by Source, 2008, Tax Policy Center Tax Facts

Further Reading

Brunori, David, Local Tax Policy: A Federalist Perspective, Second Edition (Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press, 2007).

Author: Roberton Williams
Last Updated: December 23, 2010

 
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