J.-. Section 11

I ', Federal

Government Finances and Employment

This section presents statistics relating to the financial structure and the civilian employment of the Federal Government. The fiscal data cover taxes, other receipts, outlays, and debt. The principal sources of fiscal data are The Budget of the United States Government and related documents, published annually by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Department of the Treasury's annual Treasury Combined Statement of Receipts, Expenditures, and Balances of the United States Government, the official report relating to the receipts, appropriations, outlays, and fund accounts. Detailed data on tax returns and collections are published annually by the Internal Revenue Service. The personnel data relate to staffing and payrolls for the various public functions and agencies, to employee characteristics, and to civil service status; they are published by the Office of Personnel Management (formerly Civil Service Commission) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (see p. 302). The primary source for data on public lands is Public Land Statistics, published annually by the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior. Data on federally owned land and real property are collected by the General Services Administration and presented in its annual Inventory Report on Real Property Owned by the United States Throughout the World.

Budget concept—Under the unified budget concept, all Federal monies are included in one comprehensive budget. These monies comprise both Federal funds and trust funds. Federal funds are derived mainly from taxes and borrowing and are not restricted by law to any specific government purpose. Trust funds, such as the Unemployment Trust Fund, collect certain taxes and other receipts for use in carrying out specific purposes or programs in accordance with the terms of the trust agreement or statute. Fund balances include both cash balances with Treasury and investments in U.S. securities. Part of the balance is obligated, part unobligated. In recent years, however, the budget totals, under provisions of law, have excluded some Federal activities—including the Federal Financing Bank, the Postal Service, the Synthetic Fuels Corporation, and the lending activities of the Rural Electrification Administration. For fiscal year 1984, these activities (i.e., off-budget Federal entities; see below) are estimated to equal 1.9 percent of the unified budget. Data showing unified budget totals of budget receipts and outlays are presented in the 1985 Budget for the years 1940 to 1989; more detailed tables generally show data since 1973.

Receipts arising from the Government's sovereign powers are reported as governmental receipts; all other receipts, i.e., from business-type or market-oriented activities, are offset against outlays. Outlays are reported on a checks-issued (net) basis (i.e., outlays are recorded at the time the checks to pay bills are issued).

Debt concept—For most of U.S. history, the total debt consisted of debt borrowed by the Treasury (i.e., public debt). The present debt series, includes both public debt and agency debt. The gross Federal debt includes money borrowed by the Treasury and by various Federal agencies; it is the broadest generally used measure of the Federal debt. Total public debt is covered by a statutory debt limitation, currently $1,290.2 billion, and includes only borrowing by the Treasury.

Off-budget Federal entitles.—Off-budget Federal entities are federally owned and controlled, but their transactions are excluded from the budget totals under provisions of law. Therefore, their fiscal activities are not reflected in either budget outlays or the budget surplus or deficit; appropriation requests for their programs are not included in the totals of budget authority for the budget; and their outlays are not subject to the ceilings set by the congressional budget resolutions. The surplus or deficit of the off-budget Federal entities is added to the budget surplus or deficit to arrive at the "total Federal Government surplus or deficit", which is financed by borrowing from the public or by other means When off-budget outlays are financed by Treasury borrowing, the additional debt is subject to statutory debt limitation; when financed by the entities' own borrowing, it is not. In either case, the additional debt is part of the gross Federal debt.

Treasury receipts and outlays.—All receipts of the Government, with a few exceptions, are deposited to the credit of the U.S. Treasury regardless of ultimate disposition. Under the Constitution, no money may be withdrawn from the Treasury unless appropriated by the Congress.

The day-to-day cash operations of the Federal Government clearing through the accounts of the U.S. Treasury are reported in the Daily Treasury Statement. Extensive detail on the public debt is published in the Monthly Statement of the Public Debt of the United States.

Budget receipts such as taxes, customs duties, and miscellaneous receipts, which are collected by Government agencies, and outlays represented by checks issued and cash payments made by disbursing officers as well as government agencies are reported in the Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government and in the annual Treasury Combined Statement of Receipts, Expenditures, and Balances of the United States Government. These deposits in, and payments from, accounts maintained by Government agencies are on the same basis as the unified budget.

The quarterly Treasury Bulletin contains data on fiscal operations and related Treasury activities, including financial statements of Government corporations and other business-type activities.

Income tax returns and tax collections.—Tax data are compiled by the Internal Revenue Service of the Treasury Department. The Annual Report of the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service gives a detailed account of tax collections by kind of tax and by regions, districts, and States. The agency's four annual Statistics of Income reports present detailed data from individual income tax returns, corporation income tax returns, sole proprietorship returns and partnership returns, respectively. The quarterly Statistics of Income Bulletin has, in general, replaced the supplemental Statistics of Income publications which presented data on such diverse subjects as local area data for individuals as well as data from fiduciary income tax and estate tax returns, sales of capital assets by individuals, international income and taxes reported by corporations and individuals, and estate tax wealth.

Relation to national income accounts and GNP.—The Federal sector of the national income and product accounts focuses upon Federal transactions (comprising both Federal and trust funds) entering into national income, the gross national product, and other parts of the national economic accounts (see table 486). These accounts, however, include only receipts and outlays which directly affect the current flow of income and output, and therefore exclude such transactions as loans. Also, the Federal sector account records many taxes as they accrue, instead of as they are collected, and records most purchases at the time of delivery.

Employment and payrolls.—The Office of Personnel Management collects employment and payroll data from all departments and agencies of the Federal Government, except the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Employment figures represent the number of persons who occupied civilian positions at the end of the report month shown and who are paid for personal services rendered for the Federal Government, regardless of the nature of appointment or method of payment. Through December 1978, intermittent workers were counted if they performed any service during the reporting month.

Federal payrolls include all payments for personal services rendered during the report month and payments for accumulated annual leave of employees who separate from the service. Since most Federal employees are paid on a biweekly basis, the calendar month earnings are partially estimated on the basis of the number of work days in each month where payroll periods overlap.

Federal employment and payroll figures are published by the Office of Personnel Management in its Annual Report and its Monthly Release of Federal Civilian Workforce Statistics. It also publishes biennial employment data for minority groups, geographic distribution, and data on occupations of white- and blue-collar workers; reports on salary and wage distribution of Federal employees are published annually. General schedule is primarily white collar; wage system primarily blue collar Data on Federal employment are also issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Monthly Labor Review and in Employment and Earnings and by the Bureau of the Census in its annual Public Employment.

Applications, entries, selections, patents, and certifications.—The data on applications, entries, selections, patents, and certifications refer to transactions which involve the disposal, under the public land laws (including the homestead laws), of Federal public lands to non-Federal owners. In general, original entries and selections are applications to secure title to public lands which have been accepted as properly filed (i.e., allowed). Some types of applications, however, are not reported until issuance of the final certificate, which passes equitable title to the land to the applicant. Applications are approved when full compliance with the requirements of the laws is shown and become final entries (perfected entries) upon issuance of a final certificate. Patents are Government deeds which pass legal title to the land to the applicant. Certifications are issued in lieu of patents in connection with certain State selections.

Historical statistics.—Tabular headnotes provide cross-references, where applicable, to Histoncal Statistics of the United States, Colonial rimes to 1970. See Appendix I.

Federal Government Finances and Employment

303

Figure 11.2
Federal Budget Receipts and Outlays: 1970 to 1984

Figure 11.3
Federal Budget Receipts and Outlays as a Percent of GNP: 1970 to 1984

Source: Chart prepared by U.S. Bureau of the Census. For data, see tables 488 and 492.

No. 483. Federal Budget—Summary: 1940 To 1984

[In billions of dollars, except percent Through 1976, for years ending Juris 30, except as noted; beginning 1977, ending Sept 30. Minus sign (-) indicates deficit or decline. See also Historical Statistics, Colon/a/ Times to 1970, series Y 339-342)