Spending data definitions
- General Government
- Mayor and city council; administration and finance; and other general government (city hall, elections, etc.)
- Health and Public Safety
- Police and ambulance; fire department; other protection; various sanitation expenditures (pest control, street cleaning, etc.); and health
- Street Maintenance and Repair
- Street maintenance and storm sewers; snow removal; street engineering; and street lighting
- Culture and Recreation
- Libraries; parks and recreation
- Housing and Economic Development
- Housing and urban redevelopment, housing, and economic development
- Miscellaneous
- Interest and fiscal charges; unallocated pension contributions; unallocated insurance and judgments, and other expenditures not listed separately or specifically included
- Six Category Total
- The sum of all categories listed above.
- Total Capitol Outlay
- The sum of all capital expenditures in every spending category.
Notes
- Spending data shown vary for many reasons, most notably due to differences in "workload factors"; that is, local conditions such as crime rates, poverty levels, etc. A complete analysis of variations in spending from one community to another must take these factors into account. Except for the "Capital Outlay" column, all other spending shown is for current operating expenditures only.
- Garbage collection was not listed separately nor included in the totals because most cities have an enterprise fund with separate accounting for this service. Airports were not listed separately nor included in the totals because so few cities have them. The urban redevelopment, housing, and economic development category does not include expenditures made (and reported) separately through Housing and Redevelopment Authorities.
- All capital outlay expenditures are excluded from these tables because of the sporadic nature of these expenditures over time and across cities. The Health and Public Safety category and Six-Category Total have been adjusted downward for cities which provide police and fire protection for other cities. Their expenses are higher because they provide services to other communities. The amount reported as income from police and fire contracts was subtracted from their police and fire expenditures to compensate for this.
- Total Revenues used in calculating the last two columns exclude revenues from bonds, other debt, transfers from enterprise and government funds, and investment income.
- State Aid consists of homestead and agricultural credit aid, including for mobile homes (HACA); local government aid (LGA); taconite homestead credit and aid; Minnesota investment fund moneys, highway aid, and other miscelleneous smaller aid amounts such as police and fire aid.