Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 45424-45425 [2014-18411]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45424-45425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18411]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    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 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: State and Local Government Finance Forms.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0585.
    Form Number(s): F-5, F-11, F-12, F-12(S), F-13, F-28, F-29, F-32.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 13,135.
    Average Hours per Response: 2 hours and 45 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 36,377.
    Needs and Uses: The Annual Surveys of State and Local Government 
Finances collect data on state government finances and estimates of 
local government revenue, expenditure, debt, assets, and pension 
systems nationally and within state areas. The surveys include the 
Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections, Annual Survey of 
State Government Finances, the Annual Survey of Local Government 
Finances, and the Annual Survey of Public Pensions. Data are collected 
for all agencies, departments, and institutions of the fifty state 
governments and for a sample of all local governments (counties, 
municipalities, townships, and special districts). This program is the 
only known comprehensive source of state and local government finance 
data collected on a nationwide scale using uniform definitions, 
concepts, and procedures.
    The questionnaires for collecting the Annual Surveys of State and 
Local

[[Page 45425]]

Government Finances are described below.
    Form F-5. State governments provide detailed data on their tax 
collections. Much of this detail is not available in the state's 
primary source document.
    Forms F-11, F12, and F-12(S). State and local government pension 
systems provide data on their receipts, payments, assets, membership, 
and beneficiaries.
    Forms 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. Form F-13 is used to collect 
data from state insurance trust systems.
    Form F-28. Counties, cities, and townships provide data on 
revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets.
    Form F-29. Multi-function special district governments provide data 
on revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets.
    Form F-32. Single-function special district governments and 
dependent agencies of local governments provide data on revenues, 
expenditures, debt and assets.
    There are no significant planned revisions to the forms listed 
above. Form F-25 is being eliminated as state agency data are collected 
under state data arrangements. Form F-42, which collects data on school 
building authorities, is also being eliminated. School building 
authority data will now be collected on the F-32 or F-29 form.
    Data are also gathered using means outside of a traditional form 
canvass. The Census Bureau also collects data through arrangements with 
state governments, central collection arrangements with local 
governments, supplemental data letters, and using electronic reporting 
instruments.
    In addition, there will be a canvass of local government public 
employee pension systems in 2014 to address a potential under coverage 
of these systems. The canvass will include a letter requesting contact 
information, membership, payments, and cash and investments for the 
defined benefit plan.
    In contrast to the previous submission, this submission only 
includes data collected in the annual sample years of 2014-2016. The 
last submission included data collected during the Census of 
Governments which occurs only in years ending in `2' and `7' and 
includes a full canvass of all state and non-school local governments. 
Accordingly, the requested burden hours will be substantially less than 
the previous submission.
    The Census Bureau incorporates the data collected on these forms 
into its governmental finance program. This program has facilitated the 
dissemination of comprehensive and comparable governmental finance 
statistics since 1902.
    Beginning with the 1993 annual data series, all data, summary 
tables, and files have been released on the Internet. At the Internet 
site, (www.census.gov/govs/) users will find documentation, summary 
tables and files.
    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.
    The Census Bureau provides its state and local government finance 
data annually to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) for use in 
measuring and developing estimates of the government sector of the 
economy in the National Income and Product Accounts. The Census Bureau 
also provides these data to the Federal Reserve Board for constructing 
the Flow of Funds Accounts.
    In addition, the data are used by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Council of Economic 
Advisors, Government Accountability Office, National Center for 
Education Statistics, and the National Science Foundation.
    Discontinuing the state and local government finance program would 
create a large gap in economic statistics for the government sector, 
making it impossible for the BEA to calculate the government sector of 
the National Income and Product Accounts. It would also eliminate a key 
source of data needed by the Federal Reserve Board. Additionally, the 
state and local government data are also needed as inputs into the 
Justice Expenditure and Employment Extract Series, 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.
    In recent years, state and local government financial information 
has garnered significant media attention and policy coverage. As such, 
timely state and local government finance data are critical in light of 
current financial conditions of state and local governments, as they 
provide insight into the complex nature and fiscal health of state and 
local government finances.
    Affected Public: State, local or Tribal Government.
    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 to conduct annual 
surveys in other years. These authorizations include, but are not 
limited to, collecting and disseminating, ``data on taxes . . . 
governmental receipts, expenditures, indebtedness . . . of states, 
counties, cities and other governmental units.''
    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 sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax to (202)395-5806.

    Dated: July 30, 2014.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-18411 Filed 8-4-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P