[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 70 (Friday, April 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20240-20242]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07590]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; State and Local Government Finance and Public
Employment and Payroll Forms
The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: State and Local Government Finance and Public Employment and
Payroll Forms.
OMB Control Number: 0607-0585.
Form Number(s): E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4, E-5, E-6, E-7, E-8, E-9, E-10,
F-5, F-11, F-12, F-13, F-28, F-29, F-32.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Number of Respondents: 73,508.
Average Hours per Response: 1.69 hours.
Burden Hours: 123,999.
Needs and Uses: The Census of Governments--Finance and its related
Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances are comprised of
the Annual Survey of State Government Finances, Annual Survey of Local
Government Finances, Annual Survey of State Tax Collections and Annual
Survey of Public Pensions. These surveys collect data on state
government finances; estimates of local government revenue,
expenditure, debt, and assets; and pension systems nationally and
within state areas. The Census of Governments--Employment and
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Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll collect state and local
government data on full-time and part-time employment, and payroll
statistics by governmental function. The Census Bureau implements these
programs through a full census every five years (years ending in `2'
and `7'), every five years since 1957, and the annual sample of state
and local governments in the intervening years, with a new sample
selected every five years (years ending in `4' and `9'). Content on the
census and annual surveys is the same, the only difference is the
number of governmental units selected. This clearance and all future
clearances will combine all Census of Governments programs and their
related Annual programs, which were previously submitted separately.
The Census Bureau is requesting approval to conduct the 2020 and
2021 Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances, Annual
Survey of Public Employment and Payroll and the 2022 Census of
Governments--Finance and Employment. These programs are the only
comprehensive source of state and local government finance, employment,
and payroll data collected on a nationwide scale using uniform
definitions, concepts, and procedures. Data are collected for all
agencies, departments, and school districts, institutions of the fifty
state and approximate 90,000 local governments (counties,
municipalities, townships, and special districts) during the census
years, and for a sample of the local governments (approximately 11,000)
for the survey years.
An additional 13,000 units of school districts for local government
finance are covered in a separate request.
The programs covered by this request have moved towards eliminating
collection by paper form as much as, and when possible. Throughout this
submission, the word ``form'' refers to the digital version of the form
accessed by respondents using our online collection instrument rather
than a paper form. The only exception to this is the F-13 form, which
is sent via email with a fillable PDF because the small number (50) of
respondents did not justify the cost of converting it to an electronic
form. Below is a short description of the forms utilized for data
collection. Each form is tailored to the unique characteristics of the
type and size of government or government agency to be surveyed. The E
series of forms are used in the Public Employment and Payroll
collection and the F series of forms are used in the State and Local
Government Finance collection:
E-1 State Agencies--State agencies, excluding state colleges and
universities.
E-2 State Institutions of Higher Education--State institutions of
higher education colleges and universities.
E-3 Special Districts and Local Agencies--Dependent agencies of
local governments and single function special district governments.
E-4 Municipalities, Counties, Townships--County governments,
municipalities, and township governments with a population of 1,000 or
more.
E-5 Municipalities and Townships--Shortened version of the E-4 form
for municipalities and townships with a population of <1,000.
E-6 School Systems--Local government operated institutions of
education, elementary & secondary education and/or college & other
postsecondary education.
E-7 Major Special Districts and Agencies--Multifunction dependent
agencies and fire protection agencies for local governments, and
multifunction special district governments.
E-8 Elementary and Secondary Education--Local government operated
institutions of elementary and secondary education.
E-9 Police Protection Agencies--State and local government police
protection agencies.
E-10 College and Other Postsecondary Education--Local government
operated institutions of higher education.
F-5 State governments provide detailed data on their tax
collections using a spreadsheet that they receive via email and that
includes the OMB approval number, authority and confidentiality
statements, and burden estimate.
F-11, F-12 State and local government pension systems provide data
via electronic collection instrument on their receipts, payments,
assets, membership, and beneficiaries.
F-13 State agencies provide data not included in the audits,
electronic files and other primary sources the Census Bureau uses to
compile state government financial data via a fillable PDF that they
receive via email that includes the OMB approval number, authority and
confidentiality statements. Form F-13 is used to collect data from
state insurance trust systems.
F-28 Counties, cities, and townships provide data via electronic
collection instrument on revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets.
F-29 Multi-function special district governments provide data via
electronic collection instrument on revenues, expenditures, debt, and
assets.
F-32 Single-function special district governments and dependent
agencies of local governments provide data via electronic collection
instrument on revenues, expenditures, debt and assets.
In addition to the above collection methods, the Census Bureau also
collects electronic data files through arrangements with state
governments, central collection arrangements with local governments,
and using customized electronic reporting instruments.
The Census of Governments-Finance and its related Annual Surveys of
State and Local Government Finances, provide data on state government
finances and estimates of local government revenue, expenditure, debt,
assets, and pension systems nationally and within state areas. The
Census of Governments- Employment and Annual Survey of Public
Employment and Payroll provide data on state and local government
employment and payroll in the United States. Census Bureau staff apply
a standard set of criteria while classifying government activity in
order to provide a complete and uniform set of data on the finance and
employment activities of governments in the United States.
These data are widely used by Federal, state, and local
legislators, policy makers, analysts, economists, and researchers to
follow the changing characteristics of the government sector of the
economy. The data are also widely used by the media and academia.
Statistics compiled from data gathered using these forms are used
in several important Federal government programs. Economists at the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) use these statistics for developing
the National Income and Product Accounts. According to the Chief
Economist of BEA, BEA uses the information from these surveys to
prepare the national income and product accounts (NIPA), regional
accounts, and industry accounts. The data obtained from these forms are
critical to BEA for maintaining reliable estimates. Specifically, BEA
uses national, state, local, and type-of-government aggregate data by
function for full-time and part-time employees, and payroll to prepare
estimates of functional payrolls for the public sector of the gross
domestic product (GDP) as well as to derive state-level estimates of
the employment and wages and salaries of students and their spouses who
are employed by public institutions of higher education in which the
students are enrolled. There is no other national
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or state source for information on student workers at state
institutions of higher education. The Federal Reserve Board use these
finance data for constructing the Flow of Funds Accounts.
Additionally, the state and local government finance data are also
needed as inputs into the Criminal Justice Expenditure and Employment
Extract Series (CJEE), produced by the Bureau of Justice Statistics,
and the National Health Expenditure Accounts produced by the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The data are also published
annually in the Digest of Education Statistics produced by National
Center for Education Statistics, the Economic Report of the President
produced by the Council of Economic Advisors, and the source data are
used as input into the State and Local Governments Fiscal Outlook
published by the Government Accountability Office. In addition, the
data are used by the National Science Foundation as inputs into the
State government R&D expenditures.
Public interest groups of many types produce analyses of public
sector activities using these data in addition to user organizations
representing state and local government include the Council of State
Governments, the National Conference of State Legislatures, Government
Research Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Association
of Counties, National League of Cities, and the National Association of
Towns and Townships. Other data users such as the National School
Boards Association and the National Sheriffs Association also use these
data for more specific analyses of government activities.
State and local government financial information has continued to
garner significant media attention and policy coverage as they provide
insight into the complex nature and fiscal health of state and local
government finances.
Affected Public: State & local governments.
Frequency: Annually.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13, Section 161, of the United States Code
requires the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a census of governments
every fifth year. Section 182 allows the Secretary of Commerce to
conduct annual surveys in other years.
This information collection request may be viewed at
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce
collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0607-0585.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-07590 Filed 4-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P