Municipal Financing in the United States

Financing Municipal Governments

For information about municipal bonds, click here.

Introduction to Municipal Financing

Most of the revenue for local governments is received by taxing property. Other sources of income are user fees, dividends from investment, special assessments, sale of property, and federal grants. While local governments’ expenditures sometimes exceed revenues, with their greatest expense in the area of education, many local governments are legally bound to a balanced budget. In addition to education, some services normally provided by the municipality are public safety, health services, sewage collection and treatment, transportation systems, and park and recreation facilities.” (1)

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board

The MSRB “makes rules regulating dealers who deal in municipal bonds, municipal notes, and other municipal securities,” as explained by the MSRB Web site (www.msrb.org/). The site feature’s the MSRB’s rules, reports, forms, addresses and phone numbers, and the MSRB’s User’s Manual for Customer Transaction Reporting,which details the rules dealers have to follow to report their municipal securities trades to the MSRB.

Most MSRB materials are also available in CCH’s Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Manual.

Filings: Official Statements and other MSRB filings are discussed in the “Municipal Bonds” entry.

Resources

See Also

Bond Prices
Debt Ratings
Municipal Bonds

Notes and References

• Information about Municipal Financing in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia