Essay On Local Government Revenue

716 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Explain the differences and similarities between the federal and state governments

TTLSS Project - Local Government Revenue
A local government, like an individual family, needs to have an income. The reason for this is because in the same way that a family needs money in order to take care of its family members, so does a local government need to take care of its citizens. While the heads of households in a family goes to work in order to collect a paycheck, a local government gathers its income from the taxes that it charges for its everyday services to its citizens. Because taxes are paid in exchange for a service from the government, and because they are a government’s main source of revenue, it is very important that a local government keep a well-defined list of taxes that apply to its local situation.
Citizens everywhere need all kinds of services to help increase the quality of their everyday lives. State governments help make these big decisions about what the citizens need. However, they cannot make all of the services and policies happen. Therefore, it is necessary for them to have agencies help them make sure that all of the services which taxes pay for actually happen. These agencies are split into cities, counties, and special districts; the separation of agencies depends on the different types of responsibilities that they have.
Citizens everywhere need many services to increase the quality of their lives. While state governments help make the big decisions about what the citizens need, they use agencies to help make sure that all of the services which taxes pay for actually happen. These agencies are local governments that are split into cities, counties, and special districts depending on their different types of responsibilities.
In order for these different agencies to be able to keep u...

... middle of paper ...

...n Texas, having more property tax can be better than having an income tax. It is very important that local governments of each state get to decide their own taxes since different areas have different values.
Since Texas does not have an income tax, the S.C. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) has reported that 91.8 percent of the funding for local governments in Texas comes from property tax. Texas local governments then get most of the rest of their funding from fees they collect.
Finally, it is also good to know how tax rates change. Usually, Local governments enforce the changes made by the state governments when they set new limits or increases. This enforcement is the biggest difference between them, but either way, both need the citizens to first pay for the services. Therefore, government funding from taxes and fees are very important.

Show More
Related

  • Texas, Utah and Tennessee Tax Systems

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    When comparing the amount of revenue of Texas, Tennessee and Utah and the type of taxes they charged, there is something that needs to be taken in consideration, and it is that the states differ in size and also in the amount of population, besides that the state of Texas lack of income tax revenue.

    Read More

  • Municipal reform in ontario

    1741 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...portunities for service provisions. The structural reforms cut the number of municipalities in half and implemented larger, single-tiered municipalities. The legislative reforms allowed for municipalities to have autonomy away from provincial control. After assessing the previously mentioned reforms, this paper determines that it is crucial to evaluate the behavior tendencies of the municipalities and the province when measuring the impact of these changes. For a long period of time, and arguably still to this day, municipalities have viewed themselves as creatures of the province. Further, the province of Ontario has taken a paternal and protective role over the municipalities (Graham and Phillips 179-209). In conclusion, even with financial, functional, structural and legislative reforms, these roles of the municipalities and province will not be changing quickly.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Privatizing Government Services in Canada

    2232 Words  | 5 Pages

    Municipal control or an alternative delivery method? This is the question that has intrigued all levels of local government and created intense debates between taxpayers across municipalities. The services that municipalities provide are often vital to the existence of a local area. The issues of accountability, cost savings, quality of service and democracy often arise when choosing the best options to deliver services to a municipal area. In recent years the concepts of privatization, alternative service delivery and public-private partnerships are often promoted as ways cut down on overburdened annual city budgets and promote a higher quality of service to citizens. Municipalities have historically always provided basic services such as fire protection, water purification/treatment and recreational facilities. However, would private companies or another municipality be able to better deliver the same services more efficiently or at a lower cost? The city or town often provides a political grass roots approach to most local problems. Municipalities are better positioned and have a wider scope to provide services to their constituents in order to ensure quality of service that does not erode accountability and transparency, or drive the municipality deeper into debt.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Federalist Federal And Confederate Government

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    An example of this would be that the federal government has control over the military, foreign policy, our postal system and the monetary policies. The state government has the responsibility for the police/law enforcement, road building and the schools.

    Read More

  • Texas Constitution Essay

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    Texas has a wide variety when it comes to sizes of its cities and towns, with the most populated city being Houston, with a population of 2,099,451, and the least populated city being Los Ybanez city, with a recorded population of only 19. (togetherweteach.com) With that in mind, it’s important to have different types of local governments to best accommodate the type of city or town. There’s one problem with that though. What if a huge corporation moves into a small town, increasing the population significantly and changing the dynamic of the city in a matter of 2-3 years? "Local community decisions about what government-types are chosen, and when, have lasting consequences for the future configuration of governments in an area. If cities are established earlier...then fewer government options are available later.” (Thomas, 1993) With the way local governments are determined now, it’s unlikely that the government would be able to quickly change how it functions and accommodates to its citizens. Even something like campaigning, which may not have been needed much during elections beforehand due of the closeness that tends to happen in people of small towns, would be a much bigger part of running for a local

    Read More

  • Change in the Political Climate of Texas

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    The relationship between a local government and its people is typically a combined form of stability, as well as discordant moments of tension and rising-to-dramatic change. More specifically, the political climate of the local government differs depending on how those people view the three aspects of their governmental calls and needs: rights and responsibility of the people, obligations of their government, and limits on the local governmental authority.

    Read More

  • Federal Mandates

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    When states try to find ways to restrain from non-essential areas, unfunded federal mandates are at the top of the list. These mandates often force state and local governments to spend much more than necessary on everything from medical care to welfare to road building. A complex web of federal programs bind together the tree treasuries of the local, state, and federal government. As much as 25 percent of state budgets now comes from the federal government, and up to 60 percent of some state budgets is spent on joint federal-state programs.

    Read More

  • The Inequalities Of Race In Housing And Education

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    Then comes the education part, where according to the author Jonathan Kozol in his book Savage Inequalities Children in America’s schools, property tax is one of the main financial distributions that goes towards local schools. In Kozol’s book he quotes that, “typically in the United States, very poor communities place high priority on education, and they often tax themselves at higher rates than do the very affluent communities.

    Read More

  • The Power Struggle of the States and Federal Government in the United States

    1531 Words  | 4 Pages

    Theoretically, in a Federal system the sovereignty is shared between the national government and the local government but the ultimate sovereignty lies on the people. The federal government does not have the power to be involved in the states laws as they are only able to deal with national security, taxation and foreign affairs. The States however, deal with public welfare, education and justice. For instance, in different States there are different laws in executing criminals implemented as such in California death sentence is applied. However, it differs in practice whereby in the recent events the federal government is heavily involved in the public welfare especially when it dealt with major crises.

    Read More

  • Trustees and Delegates

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Local governments employ most of the United States civil servants. The 14 cabinet departments in the U.S. are run day-to-day by career civil servants, who have a great deal of discretionary authority.

    Read More

  • Open End Grants Pros And Cons

    238 Words  | 1 Pages

    State and local governments may be required to contribute partially to programs stemming from nonfederal revenue. When local and state governments have to spend more on these programs less of their own revenue is spent on programs of their choose and

    Read More

  • Limited Government Essay

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    Then there is the state government which are responsible for governing affairs within their borders, and carrying out federal laws and programs at the state level. They are governed by their own constitutions and retain any rights that the U.S. Constitution does not exclusively grant to the federal government. The state government is limited as they cannot form alliances with other states and must honor and respect the laws and institutions of the other states. And finally there is the federal government which is the central and highest level of government in the U.S. It is divided into three branches and each branch has its own rights and power to check and balance the powers of each branch. The federal government has the power to regulate taxes, establish federal welfare programs and make laws in the interest of the nation as a whole. There are also limitations set to the federal government’s authority, as they cannot ask local law enforcements agencies to do minor administrative jobs. Although all levels of government have their own responsibilities there are limits to interfering with other governments

    Read More

  • The Political Culture of The United States

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kevin B. Smith, Alan Greenblatt, and John Buntin, Governing states and localities: First Edition (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press), 2005, 95.

    Read More

  • Federalism and Political Participation

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    State government plays an integral part in the political system from allowing citizens to have multiple access points to influence policy to providing grants to improve communities. Local governments are a part of that state government which couldn’t function without the role that local communities contribute. State governments give their residents an opportunity to feel connected and influential in the policy making process. If America was only governed at the national level and not the federal level then the interests of the everyday citizen could not be heard. It would be more like a class system where only the elite had access to influence the policy makers. They also provide services that the federal government may not feel the need to implement yet or just to see how it works out within the states. “It was states that designed the first family leave legislation giving workers ti...

    Read More

  • Relationship Between State and Local Government

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two kinds of municipalities (city/town). General- Law powers are defined by the states Government code. City government establishes municipal policy and enacts and implements local ordinances. City governments are responsible for providing services which directly affect the lives of their residents like police ...

    Read More

More about Essay On Local Government Revenue

Open Document