Table 7. Expenditure Categories.

Expenditure Categories	Census Object	Description
Total	E F G L M	The sum of all expenditures
Direct	E F G	Current expenditures (such as salaries and supplies), plus any expenditures for capital improvements
Capital Outlay	F G	Purchase or construction of capital improvements
Construction	F	Construction expenditures only
Intergovernmental to State	L	Paid to state governments for performance of functions or aid related to those functions
Intergovernmental to Local	M	Paid to local governments for performance of functions or aid related to those functions

Every set of expenditure data follows a similar organization. This table shows how to interpret the names given to the variables in the database, references the census object codes used to create them, and provides a short description of each. The indentation of the variables in the first column indicates how subcategories of data collapse into larger categories. More detailed descriptions of each category can be found in the Census’ 2006 classification manual (http://www.census.gov/govs/classification/) included with the database download.