RI State Expenditure Data: Fiscal Year2009-2014
The database includes expenditure data going back to State Fiscal Year 2009, if not earlier. (The State’s fiscal year is July 1 to June 30, so FY 2014 is July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014.) Some of the data fields are as follows:
• Category – The general description of the type of spending it is (e.g., salary/wages, operating supplies, etc.). The database has a list of the category codes and descriptions.
• Natural Accounts – Category codes are subdivided into Natural Accounts for greater specificity. Each expenditure will be associated with a natural account.
A description of Category codes and Naturals starts on page 218 of this document: http://www.budget.ri.gov/Documents/CurrentFY/TechAppendix/Complete%20FY%202015%20Technical%20Appendix.pdf . Yes, it’s a PDF. Sorry. But they should also be described in the database.
• Function – From a high-level view, the policy or functional area of government where the expenditure was made (transportation, education, etc.).
• Agency – The agency (or department) making the expenditure. Each agency has a three-digit code, as described in the database.
• Program Code – Each agency may have a few major functions that it undertakes, and the budget office uses “program codes” to differentiate among them. For larger agencies, these normally correspond to key functions within an agency (though some program codes have nothing to do with organizational structure). For example, the Department of Administration (agency 068) has many programs, including the Office of Management and Budget (program 03 within agency 068).
• Line item/ Line sequence – Programs can be subdivided to subprograms -- smaller organizational or functional areas. They will normally have associated subprogram codes and line items so that expenditures can be tied to specific offices and activities. Line items may be further subdivided into line sequences if a subprogram has multiple accounts. For example, within the Office of Management and Budget is the Federal Grants Management Office. Because it has some Federal funds that are restricted in how they may be spent, Federal Grants Management (one subprogram) has two line sequences (1020107 and 1023101) to keep certain expenditures separate.
• Fund – The source of the funding for the expenditure. Most expenditures will be “10” for General Fund, but the state also has some restricted accounts that get money from certain revenue sources and which are used for specific types of expenditures (e.g., transportation projects).
Feel free to play around it and see what jumps out. We talked about doing two types of visualizations – the ability to do a deep dive/analysis of any particular fiscal year, and showing the changes over time (by agency, function, etc.). One thing that you’ll notice is that some data will shift over time, particularly as programs are created, transferred or eliminated. If you have questions as you start to work with the data, let me know if you have any questions. I won’t have all the answers, but I’ll ask around until I figure them out.
Thanks for everyone’s help with this project.
Brian
Brian M. Daniels Director of Performance Management Office of Management and Budget State of Rhode Island