Part 1. Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
Identify the main sources of revenue for and the largest expenditures made by federal, state, and local governments.
Part 2. Reply to the following post in a minimum of 100 words:
“State and local governments collect tax revenues from three primary sources: income, sales, and property taxes. Income and sales taxes make up the majority of combined state tax revenue, while property taxes are the largest source of tax revenue for local governments, including school districts.
When it comes to expenditures, states spend more than local governments on public welfare programs. Direct general expenditures go toward public welfare, the largest source of state direct spending. State and local general expenditures also include spending on schools, health care services, and general administration.” – Lisa M.
Part 3. Respond to the following discussion in a minimum of 100 words:
“The main sources of revenue for the federal government include individual income taxes, payroll taxes, and corporate income taxes. The federal government is in charge of collecting taxes from individuals through the income that they earn and also through the employers. Employers are required by law to submit taxes based on their employees’ earnings. Companies also pay taxes as a result of the profits that they make from their businesses. The main source of revenue for the state government is tax revenues that are mainly collected from income, sales, and property taxes at the state level. This is the same case with local governments that depend on revenue from income, sales, and properties for their survival. They collect revenues from general sales made by the people and taxes on property transactions.
The largest expenditure for the federal government is the mandatory expenditure, which covers the Social Security Program and the health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Social security is estimated to take about 22.6% in 2002 of the total expenditure for the federal government (Dewitt, 2003). The largest expenditures for the state government include education and public welfare. The public welfare aspect covers the issue is salaries and health for the residents living in the state. Education is the single largest form of expenditure for the state governments, followed by public welfare and insurance trust expenditures. The local governments spend a huge chunk of their budget on the provision of services. The expenditure incurred by the local governments mainly focuses on the provision of essential services touching on housing, environment, health, and education.” – Lacey E.
