The Annual Survey of Local Government Finances provides the only source of nationwide, comprehensive information on local government finances. The U.S. Congress, federal agencies, state governments, other local governments, educational and research organizations, and the general public use the results of our data.

A survey year includes each individual government’s fiscal year that ended between July 1 of the previous year and June 30 of the survey year. Therefore, survey year 2017 covers individual government fiscal years that ended from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017.

To see the latest Local Government Finance statistics, click Data on the left side of this page.

In order to conserve taxpayer time and money, the Census Bureau is moving from paper-based data collection to online-based collection. To report online, you will need the User ID and password provided to your government by the Census Bureau.

Please visit our Online Survey Site (https://respond.census.gov/alfin ) to begin reporting or view FAQs.  If you need additional assistance, contact the Local Government Finance team.

Phone:  1-800-832-2839 (Weekdays 8AM to 5PM ET)

Email:    ewd.local.finance@census.gov

Survey Log in

Ready to start? Log in to begin reporting for the Annual Survey of Local Government Finances.  If needed, you can save and complete your survey over multiple sessions.

FAQs

To help you prepare for online reporting, click on the appropriate forms and instructions below. (All forms are in Adobe PDF file format and are for informational purposes only)

This survey is authorized by Title 13 United States Code (U.S.C.), Sections 131 and 182. Your cooperation is needed to ensure the quality of our data.

These data are subject to provisions of Title 13, United States Code, Section 9(b) exempting data that are customarily provided in public records from rules of confidentiality.

Below are a few common items you can use to verify the legitimacy of this survey:

1. Ensure the Web address provided in the letter is a "census.gov" domain.
2. Reporting information is provided in the letter.
3. On the log-in screen, a warning message should be present stating the respondent is accessing a U.S. Government computer.
4. Additionally, the upper right corner of the page should display the OMB eight-digit number and expiration date. This number indicates that the OMB has approved the survey and has confirmed there is a need to collect the information.
5. The bottom of the log-in screen should have a link for the “Burden Statement” which also contains the OMB eight-digit number.