Question 1

Where does municipal finance data come from?

Accepted Answer

Municipal finance data comes from the Michigan Department of Treasury's F-65 Annual Local Unit Fiscal Report. All Michigan cities, villages, townships, and counties file the F-65 annually. Data is published via the Treasury Socrata portal and visualized on the Michigan Community Financial Dashboard.

Question 2

What are the main revenue sources for a municipality?

Accepted Answer

Most Michigan municipalities rely on property taxes, Constitutional and Statutory State-Shared Revenue (a share of sales tax collections), charges for services, licenses and permits, and intergovernmental transfers. Michigan has no local sales tax, so property taxes and state revenue sharing are especially important.

Question 3

What is a General Fund and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

The General Fund is the municipality's primary operating fund. It covers core services like police, fire, public works, and administration. A healthy General Fund balance (typically 25-50% of annual expenditures) indicates the town can handle unexpected expenses without raising taxes or cutting services.

Question 4

How current is this financial data?

Accepted Answer

Michigan Treasury F-65 data on the Socrata portal currently covers 2010–2019. More recent filings are published as per-entity PDFs via the Treasury document search. Newer years will be added as bulk data becomes available.

Ferndale, MI

Ferndale Municipal Budget

Finances — FY 2025