SHARED REVENUES
To support essential and state mandated services, counties receive several state share revenues including sales taxes (state shared TPT), vehicle license taxes (VLT) and highway user revenue funds (HURF). Unlike municipalities, counties do not receive income tax sharing (URS).
TPT accounts for between a quarter and half of major county General Fund resources. This revenue stream is a vital pillar of county finance because the counties' other major revenue stream, the property tax, is restricted by constitutional and statutory limits.
Currently, the counties receive about 40% of the shared portion of the state’s 5% sales tax rate. These resources are allocated to individual counties using a statutory formula that balances where the tax was collected (point of sale) with local population or property values.
Explore the statutory distribution formula for state shared TPT below, or download a PDF flow chart. To see the most recent distributions of TPT revenue, check out the GF Revenue Dashboard or the County Encyclopedia.
Vehicle License Tax (VLT) Distribution
Annually, counties receive over $300 million for essential services and over $80 million to support transportation infrastructure in the county. Monies for general government services are allocated to counties based on where the vehicle was registered and resources for transportation are allocated based on unincorporated population.
Across both direct distributions, counties get approximately 30% of vehicle license tax revenues. Additionally, 19% of HURF revenues - another major VLT recipient - are distributed to counties.
Explore the statutory distribution formula for VLT below, or download a PDF flow chart. To see the most recent distributions of VLT revenue, check out the GF Revenue Dashboard or the County Encyclopedia.
Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) Distribution