PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s direct general expenditures through local and state government in fiscal year 2005 were higher than the national average, according to a report released today by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council.
The report, based on the latest government finance data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, also includes data from fiscal 1995.
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Rhode Island’s expenditures of $219.29 per $1,000 of personal income in 2005 were 6 percent higher than the national average of $206.83 that year, when RIPEC said Rhode Island ranked 18th highest in the country.
Looked at a different way, Rhode Island’s expenditures were $7,492 per capita, which put the state at No. 9 in the country with spending 10.5 percent above the national average of $6,778.
In fire safety, Rhode Island was the No. 1 spender in in 2005, whether ranked by expenditures per $1,000 of personal income or expenditures per capita, though fire-safety expenditures amounted to only 3.1 percent of direct general expenditures in 2005.
Gary Sasse, executive director of RIPEC, attributed Rhode Island’s high spending on fire safety to older infrastructure in general in the Northeast. He cited other Northeastern states such as Massachusetts, which ranked fourth in the country for spending on fire safety per capita in 2005.
Sasse also cited a greater population density in the Northeast along with Rhode Island laws for collective bargaining, which he said favor the unionized work force, as reasons why the Ocean State ranked so high in this category.
Rhode Island ranked in the top 10 states for expenditures per capita in elementary and secondary education (ninth), Medicaid / vendor payments (third), cash assistance payments (fifth), housing and community development (sixth) and police (10th).
The state ranked in the bottom 10 nationwide for expenditures per capita on higher education (47th), highways (46th) and parks and recreation (49th), RIPEC said.
The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council is an business-backed nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research and education organization. Additional information, including “How Rhode Island’s State and Local Expenditures Compare – 2007 Edition,” visit www.ripec.com.
