The Local Government Budget Data by County tables show the appropriations, revenues, assessed values and property tax rates for each jurisdiction within a county for recent budget years. This page describes the data included in these tables.
Go to the Local Government Budget Data by County Tables:
Contents
Source
Unit
Total Appropriations
General Fund Appropriations
Capital Fund Appropriations
Other Appropriations
Total Revenues and Balances
Property Tax Revenue
Other Revenues and Balances
Assessed Value
Property Tax Rate
What do zeros mean?
Source
Figures are from the local government's annual budget
form 4-B for each fund, also known
as the "16-line form." These figures are appropriations and revenue estimates,
that is, the amounts the governments expect to receive and expect to spend
during the budget year. Budgets are keyed into the Indiana Local Government
Data Base ("logodaba"), which was the source of these figures.
Unit
The list of local governments with property
taxing power in the county. Included are county governments, townships, cities
and towns, school corporations, library districts, and "special districts," which
include solid waste management districts, transportation districts, fire
protection districts, conservation districts and so forth.
Total Appropriations
Appropriations are
the total expected spending from all funds by the local government for the
budget year. This is the sum of figures on line 1 on form 4-B for all funds.
Zero appropriations appear for some units. This usually means that the budget
data is missing from the local government data base, not that the local unit
has not appropriated funds.
General Fund Appropriations
Expected spending from
the general fund by the local government for the budget year. This is line
1 on form 4-B for the general fund. The general fund has a fund number of
101. Zero appropriations appear for some units. This usually means either
that the budget data is missing from the local government data base, or that
the unit is in more than one county (a "cross-county unit"), and its appropriations
are listed in another county.
Capital Fund Appropriations
Expected spending on
cumulative and debt service funds by the local government for the budget
year. This is the sum of the figures on line 1 on form 4-B for cumulative,
debt service and lease rental funds, and school and library capital projects
funds. Debt service or lease rental fund numbers end in 80; cumulative
fund numbers end in 90.
The
school capital projects funds have the fund number 1214, and the library
capital projects funds have the fund number 1220. Zero appropriations usually
mean that the unit does
not have
capital
appropriations.
Other Appropriations
Expected spending for all funds
which are not general or capital funds, by the local government
for the budget year. This is the sum of figures on line 1 of form 4-B for
these other funds. Highway funds for counties and transportation funds for
school corporations are examples. Zero appropriations appear for some units.
This usually means either that the
budget data is
missing
from
the
local
government
data
base, or that the unit is in more than one county, and its appropriations
are listed in another county.
Total Revenues and Balances
Total revenues are set equal to appropriations
for each unit, except where appropriations are zero. Then total revenues
are set equal to the property tax levy.
Property Tax Revenue
The gross property
tax levy for all funds, by the local government for the budget year.
This is the sum of figures on line 16 on form 4-B for all funds. Property
Tax Replacement Credits or Homestead Credits are not subtracted (it's the
gross levy, not the net levy).
Other Revenues and Balances
Total revenues and balances less property tax revenues. Other revenues and
balances will include "miscellaneous revenues," which are most non-property
tax revenues including local income taxes, motor vehicle excise taxes,
charges and fees, interest earnings and so forth, which is the
sum of figures on line 8-B on form 4-B for all funds. This category also
includes
net
changes in fund balances from the beginning of the budget year to the
end of the budget year. Jurisdictions that decrease their balances
during the year add to revenues (that is, they use some savings to support
current spending); jurisdictions that increase their balances during the
year subtract from revenues. For cross-county units with non-zero appropriations,
other revenues and balances include property taxes collected in other counties.
Other revenues and balances do not include property tax replacement credit
payments. These are included as part of the gross property tax levy.
Assessed Value
The net assessed
valuation of property taxable by the property tax, after deductions
and xemptions, for the local government for the budget year. This
figure is from the heading of form 4-B, and is usually the same for all
funds. The most common exception is for township fire department
funds. Many townships have their own fire departments, but also include
areas served by municipal fire departments. Township fire department rates
apply only to assessed value in areas served by the township fire department.
Property Tax Rate
The gross rate which owners of property
in the government's jurisdiction must pay, expressed
in dollars per $100 of Assessed Value. This is the gross rate, before Property
Tax Replacement Credits are subtracted (see Property Taxes, above). The rate
is calculated by dividing Property
Taxes by Assessed Value, and multiplying by 100.
What do zeros mean?
Since the data are not perfect,
a zero in an appropriation or revenue entry may mean one of three things:
1. The jurisdiction had no appropriation or revenue of that type. A large number of jurisdictions had no capital appropriations, for example. Many solid waste management districts do not collect property taxes.
2. The data are missing. Some jurisdictions do not report on time; some reports are not entered into the data base on time. When zeros appear in the total appropriations or total revenues columns, it may be because the data are missing, not because the jurisdiction did not appropriate funds or raise revenues. A clue that missing data is the problem is where most other units of the type have non-zero appropriations or revenues (for example, where only one township has zero appropriations, the data are probably missing).
3. Cross-county jurisdictions. Some cities, towns
and school corporations are located in more than one county. These
are marked by asterisks in the county tables. Property tax assessment and
levy data can be divided among the jurisdiction's counties,
but appropriations data cannot. All of a jurisdiction's appropriations
will appear in its primary county. Appropriations in a jurisdiction's
secondary county will be listed as zero.