Fiscal Capacity Appendix of the Transportation Outlook 2040

Report by Mid-America Regional Council
June 9, 2015

The Mid-America Regional Council   (Kansas City)

This document (Appendix E) on Fiscal Capacity supplements the broader Transportation Outlook 2040 report and includes data and analysis of local contributions to highways (planning, building, maintenance).

In the appendix, you will find the (arduous) methodology by which we analyzed local budgets contribution to highways and similar infrastructure. Because the Census of Governments does not actually collect data in a way that  metropolitan planning requires, we presented the local data as an aggregate, rather than look at local government units individually. 

This methodology will likely be revised in future plans as: 1) we learn how to better use the government data and perhaps even influence the instrument in order to have more detail; and 2) develop a stronger relationship with local government units so that data that does not appear or unclear in the census can be obtained in a different way.