In 1992-93, local governments raised somewhat more than the state in own-source revenues.
Own-source revenues include tax and fee revenues but exclude funds received from another government entity. Local revenues include income of publicly owned utilities and other local government enterprises.
More than half of the state's revenues were allocated to local schools and other local agencies.
The figure shows the distribution of combined California state and local own-source revenues in 1992-93, by source.
Tax revenues represent over two-thirds of combined state-local own-source revenues.
Fees and other nontax sources of state and local revenues have increased greatly since 1978. In recent years, however, the ratio of fees and other nontax sources to personal income has held steady.
State and local tax revenues per $100 of personal income have risen gradually since the early 1980s, but still remain well below pre-Proposition 13 levels.
Preliminary data for 1992-93 indicates that state and local tax revenues per $100 of personal income are about three-fourths of the level they were in 1977-78.
State and local taxes per capita have increased since 1977-78, due to a variety of factors (such as inflation).
After adjusting for inflation, state and local taxes per capita still remain below their pre-Proposition 13 level.
Preliminary 1992-93 data indicate that state and local taxes per capita are approximately 90 percent of their pre-Proposition 13 levels when these tax revenues are adjusted for inflation.
California has nearly 7,000 local entities. Together they raised more that $62 billion in 1992-93. Cities and counties account for more than half of all local revenues in California.
There are more special districts than any other type of local entity. These districts provide a variety of services to residents (for example, fire protection, parks and recreation, and transit).
Redevelopment agencies are the fastest growing group of local entities in terms of their expenditures. They also represent a type of entity that cities and counties use to provide financing for their infrastructure and community development needs.
After passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, the state increased its funding of schools and shifted property tax allocations from schools to other local entities to mitigate their Proposition 13 revenue losses.
1992-93 and 1993-94 budget actions shifted $3.9 billion to schools from cities, counties, redevelopment agencies, and special districts, pushing the schools' share of property tax above 50 percent.
Since 1993-94 there has been no legislation significantly changing the allocation of the property tax.
Over one-half of county revenues come from the state and federal governments. Property taxes are the largest general purpose revenue source.
County expenditures are largely dictated by state laws and budget actions, with more than half of county revenues being spent for health and public assistance.
City revenues are generated from a variety of taxes and user charges, with only a small amount of state and federal aid. User charges and taxes each account for about one-third of city revenues statewide.
Cities provide a wide variety of direct services to residents and are involved in the development of civic infrastructure. Cities spend about one-fourth of their budgets for public safety activities, including police and fire protection.
Special districts are divided into two categories: (1) enterprise districts, which charge fees to users of their services and are organized like businesses, and (2) nonenterprise districts, which finance service delivery primarily with tax and assessment revenues.
Special district revenues totaled more than $15 billion in 1992-93. Enterprise districts account for more than $11 billion of the total. Nonenterprise districts account for $4 billion of the total.
Table
of Contents 
Part
II, California's Population 
Part
IV, State Revenue