Fiscal Focus

              The fiscal relationship between state gov-ernment
and units of local government in
Illinois is more complex than most people
realize. First, the flow of money takes
many forms including local taxes that are
collected by the state and returned to their
origin, shared revenues, grants, loans, and
subsidized salaries for some local offi-cials.
Second, the sheer number of local
governments in Illinois not only adds to
the variety of assistance available, but also
to the state’s administra-tive
costs. According to
the latest U. S. Census
Bureau figures, Illinois
had 2,824 units of general
purpose local govern-ments
(counties, munici-palities
and townships),
3,145 units of special dis-tricts
(such as library, fire
protection, or water serv-ice
districts), and 934
school districts. (See arti-cle
and map on page 3.)
Although units of local
government have the
authority to levy property
taxes to sustain their operations, they also
rely on federal and state aid. Based on fig-ures
reported by the U.S. Census Bureau,
64.7% of the total revenue for all local
governments in Illinois in fiscal year 2002
came from local taxes and user charges
while 30% came from the state and 5.3%
from the federal government. The 30%
figure for revenue from the state is an
average for all types of local government,
and ranges from a high of about 36% for
municipalities to about 28% for counties
to approximately 7% for townships.
One need look no further than the state
Constitution and statutes to gain an under-standing
of local governments in Illinois.
Local governments are creations of the
state with their very existence, form, pow-ers
and duties spelled out in state law. In
addition, the ability of local governments
to raise revenue, as well as the earmarking
of state dollars for local government pur-poses,
is established by numerous state
statutes.
Cover Story .........................front, 5, 8–12
Letter From The Comptroller................... 2
Brief History of
Local Governments ........................... 2, 4
Units of Government.............................. 3
Distribution of State Sales Tax............ 6–7
Local Government Reliance
on Property Taxes ..........................13–14
School Construction Projects ........... 15
IOC’s Local Government Division ........ 16
Web Sites of Interest............................ 17
April 2006 Tables .................................. 18
May 2006 Tables ................................... 19
Did You Know .........................Back Cover
In This Issue:
• JUNE 2006 ISSUE •
The State Role in Local
Government Finances
A Publication of the Illinois State Comptroller
Fiscal Focus
Cover Story continued, page 5
Local Government General Revenue, Illinois
Local Taxes
44.9%
State Aid
30.0%
Federal Aid
5.3%
Miscellaneous
7.5% Local Charges
12.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006 .
2002