ABSTRACT
The receipt of revenue from other governments (i.e., intergovernmental revenue) by local governments is no small matter. In fact, it is hard to imagine local governments being able to do what they do and provide the vast array of services they do today if they did not receive revenue from the federal government, their states, or other local governments—but especially the first two. Over the years, intergovernmental revenue (IR) has grown noticeably and currently accounts for approximately one-third of the revenue available to local governments. Again, this is no small matter. While the largest proportion of IR comes from state governments, federal grant-in-aid money and even revenue obtained from other local governments is substantial (but more so for the former) and serves to augment a local government's own-source revenue (OSR). But, given the unpredictability of politics in Congress and economic impact of several recent, severe recessions, this vital source of revenue for local governments is not the certainty that it once was.
