The Nation - News from Jan. 30, 1986

The nation’s counties are shouldering more of their own financial needs, with both federal and state governments providing smaller shares of county revenues, the Census Bureau reported. County governments had total revenue of $79.8 billion in fiscal 1984, with 62.8% raised by local taxes, fees and other income, the bureau said. That is up from a local share of 58.6% in 1981, when total revenues were $62.4 billion. During the same period, federal aid to counties declined from $4.7 billion to $4 billion, falling from 7.5% to 5.0% of their income.