American cities made ends meet in '78

The nation's cities ran in the black in fiscal 1978, Commerce Clearing House reports. Municipalities received $80.1 billion from all revenue sources and made expenditures totaling $77.3 billion in the period ending June 30, 1978, according to a report of the latest Census Bureau data.

Total city revenues increased $6.3 billion, or 8.6 percent, and expenditures rose $6.7 billion, or 9.5 percent, from the previous fiscal year.

The report noted that an increasing proportion of city general revenue comes from federal grants-in-aid. Over the past decade, federal aid paid directly to cities has increased from 4.7 percent to 15.6 percent of total city general revenue. There has been a related decline (from 34.5 to 24.9 percent) in the percentage derived from property taxes over the same period.