What is Expenditure Structure?
Expenditure Structure: Understanding Service Costs in Montana Local Government Budgets
Expenditure Structure
The structure of the expenditure side of the budget is a characterization of the types of services that are produced. What types of spending grow faster than the economy and what types grow more slowly? Personnel costs for police, fire, corrections, and sanitation are services commonly provided by local governments and may be loosely characterized as "fundamental" local services that citizens expect to receive routinely wherever they
live. A further refinement of the data might add water and sewer spending, emergency medical services, and possibly some portions of public hospital services or transportation services, among others. Debt service includes interest and principal for city general obligation short-term and long-term debt.
The structure of the expenditure side of the budget is a characterization of the types of services that are produced. What types of spending grow faster than the economy and what types grow more slowly? Personnel costs for police, fire, corrections, and sanitation are services commonly provided by local governments and may be loosely characterized as "fundamental" local services that citizens expect to receive routinely wherever they
live. A further refinement of the data might add water and sewer spending, emergency medical services, and possibly some portions of public hospital services or transportation services, among others. Debt service includes interest and principal for city general obligation short-term and long-term debt.