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                              README for	
    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE--ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS ADMINISTRATION	
                U.S. CENSUS BUREAU - GOVERNMENTS DIVISION	
	
         Data Base on Historical Finances of Municipal Governments:
                        "City_Govt_Finances"
                      Fiscal Years 1951 - 2006
                             July 2011
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This ZIP file contains the U.S. Census Bureau's internal data base providing 
historical statistics on the finances of municipal governments (plus townships
in four states).  It is based on the statistics formerly published in the 
publication series, "City Government Finances." 

It spans fiscal years between 1951 and 2006 and covers the finance topics of
revenue, expenditure, debt, and cash and security holdings.
	
For more information about the data base, refer to the included User Guide, a	
Microsoft Excel file called: _Finance_Publication_Data_Guide.xls

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**** IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT ****
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1. The Census Bureau implemented significant changes to its classification system
for statistics on government finances effective with FY 2005 data. Some of these
changes will be obvious (e.g., new variables, no more data for existing ones, 
large increases due to expanded coverage of variable). Others, however, will not
be as apparent, such as changing the coverage of a data variables from state only
to include all local governments who reported some but not a significant amount
of data.

For more information on these revisions please refer to the following:

  - Data base user document (_Finance_Publication_Data_Guide.xls)
  - Appendix 1 to the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual
    (2006 edition), viewable on-line:

http://ftp2.census.gov/govs/class06/2006_classification_manual.pdf#page=420

2. Beginning with data for fiscal year 2007, the Census Bureau decided to end
its long-running practice of issuing finance data for individual local 
governments.

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UNIVERSE DESCRIPTION	
====================	
	
Municipal (city) government finance activities.  Activities of city-dependent 
public school systems are also included.

Also included are towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts and townships in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  The U.S. Census Bureau classifies these entities
as township governments in its surveys on government finances and employment.

The difference between this data base and "IndFin" is the source of data.
This one is based on the data published in the former report series, "City
Government Finances," since 1951. "IndFin" is based on data files produced since 
1970 (plus 1967). Thus, this one provides more years of data but less detail.

Data for 1959 include Honolulu HI as an exhibit.
 
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SUBJECT MATTER DESCRIPTION	
==========================	
	
This data base contains statistics on 184 finance items.  Note, however,
that data are not available for every one of these variables for all years.

These finance data are in thousands of dollars. 

Revenue data are provided by source.  Expenditure data are shown by function 
(e.g., education, highways, and public welfare) and by type (e.g., direct, 
current operations, capital outlays).  The indebtedness data show debt 
outstanding at the end of the fiscal year as well as debt issued and retired 
during the year.  Cash and security holdings are shown by purpose.	

The finance statistics are in terms of current dollar amounts as originally 
reported. They have not been adjusted for price and wage changes occurring 
through the years.
	
Data presented here are statistical in nature and do not represent an accounting
statement.  A difference between total revenue and expenditure does not 
necessarily indicate a "budget" surplus or deficit.

For detailed descriptions and definitions of terms used in this series,
refer to our classification manual which can be accessed on-line here:	
	
           http://www.census.gov/govs/classification

Population data are in whole numbers. They represent the population data 
found in the original publications. These population data may have been 
updated since they were originally obtained.

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YEARS COVERED	
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This data base covers fiscal years 1951 to 2006.
	
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FILE FORMATS
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The data base is in Microsoft Access 2000 format and is called
"City_Govt_Finances.mdb."  Its over 175 finance items are included in a
single data table.

Although this data base is in Microsoft Access 2000 format, you can easily 
query it using Microsoft Excel.  For instructions, see the enclosed file:

            How_to_Query_MS_Access_DB_in_MS_Excel.xls

The user guide is in Microsoft Excel 2000 format and is called 
"_Finance_Publication_Data_Guide.xls." It is an internal document that may 
have sections or features not relevant to your work. It also contains 
additional notes about the data.
	
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OTHER DATA USER NOTES	
=====================	

- This data base is an internal file of the U.S. Census Bureau. It is an
archive of the data items published in the report series, "City Government
Finances," since 1951, as collected in the periodic censuses of governments
and annual surveys of government finances..

- The data are based on information from public records and contain no 
confidential data.

- Additional information on nonsampling error, survey design, confidentiality, 
and definitions may be found: for 1992 and later years, on our web site 
(www.census.gov) and for earlier years, from the annual report series, 
"City Government Finances," and census of governments publication, 
"Finances of Municipal and Township Governments."

- Numbers like "-11111", "-11333", and "-55555" are flags meaning that the
data item was not published in year cited (see User Guide for details).

- Data users who create their own estimates using these data should cite the 
Census Bureau as the source of the original data only.

- Suggested citation: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Local Government
Finances and Census of Governments (years)

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Outreach and Education Branch	
Governments Division	
US Census Bureau	
U.S. Department of Commerce	
Washington, D.C.  20233-6800	
(301) 763-1586	
	
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