A Brief Revised August 2003

of County OVERVIEWGovernment government structure. of typethis examplesCity/Countyof are surroundingcounties). Jacksonville/Duval, consolidated government functionscity-county with governmentstheir (i.e., additioncitiestothe3,033 counties, that there haveare33 est counties (3); Texas has the most (254). In ments, asdefinedbytheCensusBureau. but they do not have functioning govern counties, called regions geographic into Connecticut and Rhode Island are divided ments boroughs and parishes, respectively. govern type county their call Louisiana erational county governments. continue apacetoday. trends ever services. These of range widening an providing began counties The ered in a new era for county government. and stronger political accountability ush autonomy from the states, rising revenues, urbanization. Changes in structure, greater opments set the stage for post World devel Those governments. War local of role II the strengthened movement reform ment govern the development, suburban and arm ofthestate. an as government county conceptualized quently, early state constitutions generally Subse states. the to matter the left they not provide for local governments. Rather, formed, the framers of the Constitution did colonies. the of each of needs geographic and economic diverse the suit to adapted and colonists the by America North of seaboard eastern the the tural form of the struc as shire was adopted along The well government. local as citizen’s government the national of arm administrative the as acted shire the function, dual a years Serving ago. thousand a of shire English the History of Coun of History Characteristics ty Government Hawaii and Delaware each have the few Forty-eight of the fifty states have op After World War I, population growth, was government national our When to roots their trace Counties County  

Alaska and ------Counties byState Maryland Maine Louisiana Kentucky Kansas Iowa Indiana Illinois Idaho Hawaii Georgia Florida Delaware Connecticut Colorado California Arkansas Arizona Alaska Alabama State Total Wyoming Wisconsin West Virginia Washington Virginia Vermont Utah Texas Tennessee South Dakota South Carolina Rhode Island Pennsylvania Oregon Oklahoma Ohio North Dakota North Carolina New York New Mexico New Jersey New Hampshire Nevada Nebraska Montana Missouri Mississippi Minnesota Michigan Massachusetts ......

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...... Counties 3,034 104 102 155 254 100 118 114 23 16 60 99 91 44 66 62 57 75 15 13 67 23 72 55 39 95 14 29 92 66 46 66 36 77 88 53 57 33 21 10 16 93 54 82 87 83 3 3 0 0 6 ......

Consol. Govts 34 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0 Counties vary greatly in size and population. They range in area from 26 to 87,860 square miles (i.e., Arlington Basic Forms of County, Virginia and the North Slope, Alaska). Similarly, the population of County Government counties varies tremendously from Lov- There are three basic forms of Commission/Administrator ing County, Texas, with its 67 residents, county government. Under all three, Under this form, the county board of to Los Angeles County, California, which many administrative responsibilities are commissioners appoints an administrator is home to 9,519,338 people. vested by state constitution or statute to who serves at its pleasure. That individual Counties with populations under independently elected row officers (e.g., may be vested with a broad range of pow- 50,000 accounted for nearly three-fourths clerk, coroner, sheriff, and treasurer). ers, including the authority to hire/fire de- of all county governments in 2000. partment heads and formulate a budget. Commission The distinguishing feature of Council-Executive The Many Hats this type of structure is the fact that The separation of powers of County legislative authority (e.g., power to principle undergirds this governnance enact ordinances and adopt budgets) system. A county executive is the Government and executive powers (e.g., to chief administrative officer of the    administer policies and appoint county jurisdiction. Typically, he/she has the employees) are exercised jointly by authority to veto ordinances enacted Traditionally, counties performed state an elected commission or board of by the county board (subject to mandated duties which included assessment supervisors. their possible override) and hire/fire of property, record keeping (e.g., property Although governing body department heads. and vital statistics), maintenance of rural members are most frequently called Although a majority of counties still roads, administration of election and judicial commissioners or supervisors, operate under the commission form, more functions, and poor relief. Today, counties these are not universal titles. Many than 40 percent have shifted to either the rapidly are moving into other areas, under- governing body members in Louisiana, county administrator or the elected taking programs relating to child welfare, for example, are called parish police executive type. State policy-makers have consumer protection, economic development, jurors. The county governing body in contributed to this trend, as Arkansas, employment/training, planning and zoning, most New Jersey counties is the board Kentucky, and Tennessee now mandate and water quality, to name just a few. of chosen freeholders. that counties in those states be headed by Service delivery responsibilities, an elected executive. however, vary widely among counties. For most, constructing/ maintaining local roads per capita on public welfare and $747.35 most important revenue source for coun- is one of their prime duties. North Carolina on hospitals/health care for its residents ties, reporting 30.6% of general revenue Counties, however, have no responsibilities in FY 1991- 1992. It registered no spend- funds. The sales tax is the second most in this area. Wide variations also exist in ing, however, for sewage treatment. Kent significant revenue source for counties, the social service responsibilities and the County, Delaware spent $78.78 per capita with counties reporting collecting 14% types of utility services (e.g., water supply) on that activity, but nothing on welfare and of the general fund from this tax. provided by county governments. hospitals/health during the period. The following states with a state sales That disparity is clearly demon- tax do not permit local government to levy strated by a review of per capita spending a local sales tax: Hawaii, Indiana, Ken- for various items. Merced County, Cal- County Finance tucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, ifornia, for example, expended $618.07    Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. More than half of Counties by population Revenues the counties who responded to the survey reported sales tax as a percentage of the Population Range No. % State constitutions and statutes dic- tate the revenue sources counties may government’s revenue. use. Barely half the states allow counties Counties reported that other taxes repre- 500,000 +...... 102...... 3.3 % sent 13.6% of their general fund revenues 250,000 - 499,999 ...... 115...... 3.8 % to impose a sales tax. Only in Indiana and (these taxes include motor vehicle taxes, 100,000 - 249,999 ...... 278...... 9 % Maryland is a tax on income a significant 50,000 - 99,999 ...... 383...... 12.5 % county revenue source. real estate transfer taxes, cable television 25,000 - 49,999 ...... 641...... 20.9 % According to the 2001 NACo Study franchise taxes and hotel/motel taxes). 10,000 - 24,999 ...... 871...... 28.4 % County Revenue Patterns: A Survey of 9,999 - 0 ...... 678...... 22.1 % Authority Practices and as was evident in Expenditures the 1998 Preliminary Investigative Report, The important role that local govern- Total ...... 3,068...... 100 % property taxes accounted for the single ment plays in delivering basic social ser- vices (and providing income maintenance The information below is compiled from the 2000 Census assistance) is demonstrated by the fact and 1998-1999 U.S. Census Government Finances that public welfare, hospitals and other general health related issues comprised nearly 64% of total county government Largest Counties by Population expenditures in FY 1998 – 1999. Spend- Los Angeles, CA...... 9,519,338 ing on education services in local commu- nities was second for counties, comprising Cook, IL ...... 5,376,741 13.2% of finances (a decrease of 2.0 from Harris, TX...... 3,400,578 FY 1991 – 92 to FY 1998 – 99). Maricopa, AZ...... 3,072,149 Nearly all functional areas of gov- Orange, CA...... 2,846,289 ernment saw slight increases in the expen- San Diego, CA...... 2,813,833 diture amounts that counties used for fiscal years 1991 – 92 to 1996 – 97 to support Kings, NY...... 2,465,326 education, social services, transportation, Miami-Dade, FL...... 2,253,362 environment and housing, and general Queens, NY ...... 2,229,379 government administration. The one area Dallas, TX ...... 2,218,899 that saw a decrease in the cost to provide services was the cash assistance payments under the public welfare function, which Largest Counties in Total Revenue Dollars (1999) accounted for 6.2% of county’s budget in 91 – 92 and only 4.5% in 96-97. Los Angeles, Calif...... $15,682,637,000 San Francisco, CA...... $5,287,938,000 Debt Philadelphia, PA...... $5,562,149,000 On average, per capita debt outstanding Miami-Dade, FL...... $4,614,837,000 totals $334, representing nearly 1.5% of resi- dent per capita income for the counties sur- Fairfax, VA...... $3,179,002,000 veyed in the 1998 NACo study. Per capita Montgomery, MD...... $3,031,123,000 debt outstanding is far higher for residents of Orange, CA...... $2,876,124,000 the most urbanized counties ($500) than for San Diego, CA...... $2,565,932,000 the least urbanized counties ($172). Cook, IL ...... $2,551,105,000 Santa Clara, CA...... $2,339,541,000 Counties as Employers To fulfill their service responsibilities, county governments employ more than two Largest Counties in Total Expenditure Dollars (1999) million professional, technical, and clerical personnel. Employment by county govern- Los Angeles, CA...... $13,528,200,000 ments increased by nearly 73% between San Francisco, CA...... $5,629,907,000 1967 and 1997, rising from 1,582,000 Philadelphia, PA...... $5,188,082,000 full time-equivalent (FTE) personnel to 2,181,000 in 1997. Moreover, the total cost Miami-Dade, FL...... $4,635,166,000 of a typical one month payroll for all county Fairfax, VA...... $2,931,530,000 employees climbed from $1,489,300 to Montgomery, MD...... $2,911,956,000 $5,750,400 over that 20 year period. Orange, CA...... $2,443,954,000 According to Census Bureau figures, San Diego, CA...... $2,364,617,000 local governments nationwide employed 389.4 FTE per 10,000 population in Clark, NV...... $2,198,309,000 FY2000. Top individual county employers were as follows: Leading Sources of Revenue for the Largest Counties

County Non- State Aid...... $20,217,806,000 Education FTE Charges/fees...... 9,511,532,000 Los Angeles County, CA...... 96,161 Property Tax...... 9,338,753,000 Dade County, FL ...... 36,734 Interest...... 2,073,449,000 Cook County, IL ...... 26,703 Sales Tax ...... 1,753,247,000 Harris County, TX ...... 18,546 Federal Aid...... 1,273,111,000 Sources and Top 25 Counties   Additional

Property tax continues to be a basic income generator for the 25 largest county References    governments, although the most recent data shows a noticeable fluctuation in this reliance. Fairfax County, VA reports that 41 percent of their revenue comes from Berman, David R., ed., property taxes, while Orange and San Bernardino Counties report that only 9% of County Governments in an Era of Change their revenue is from this tax. On average, the top 25 counties report that nearly 22% (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993). of their revenue comes from property taxes. County Revenues, A Survey of Authority and Practice, National Association of Counties, September 2001 Counties with the Largest percentage County Revenue Patterns: of Property Tax Income A Preliminary Investigation, National Association of Counties, October 1998.

County Actual Dollars Percent DeSantis, Victor S., “County Government: A Century of Fairfax County, VA...... $1,316,028,000...... 41% Change,” in The Municipal Year-book 1989 (Washington, DC: International City Tarrant County, TX...... $253,989,000...... 40% Management Association, 1989): 55 - 65. Harris County, TX ...... $721,621,000...... 38% Schneider, Mark, and Park, Koo Ok, Broward County, FL ...... $468,073,000...... 33% “Metropolitan Counties as S e r v i c e Dallas County, TX ...... $351,126,000...... 32% Delivery Agents: The Still Forgotten Governments,” Public Administration Review 49 (July/August 1989): 345 - 352. Counties with the Smallest Percentage United States Department of Commerce, of Property Tax Income Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census, County Government County Actual Dollars Percent Employment: 1997.

County Government Structure, A State Orange County, CA...... $252,907,000...... 9% to State Report, National Association of San Bernardino County, CA...... $195,282,000...... 9% Counties, December 2001

Kern County, CA...... $127,386,000...... 10% County Government Finances: 1998 - 1999 Los Angeles County, CA...... $1,863,047,000...... 12% Clark County, NV ...... $275,604,000...... 12% Web Sites www.census.gov www.gfoa.gov www.municode.com For the largest 25 counties, state aid provides a larger percentage of revenue than www.thomas.loc.gov property taxes. Riverside County, LA received 60% of this revenue from state aid. The receipts from direct state aid averaged nearly 35% of total county revenues. For additional information, contact:

National Association of Counties Research Division Counties with the Largest Percentage 440 First Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 of State Aid (202) 393-6226 http://www.naco.org County Actual Dollars Percent

Riverside County, CA...... $975,304,000...... 60% San Bernadino County, CA...... $1,257,327,000...... 56% Los Angeles County, CA...... $1,028,678,000...... 56% Santa Clara County, CA...... $1,257,985,000...... 54% San Joaqoin County, CA...... $443,874,000...... 53% Revised August 2003