Your Tax Dollars

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Federal tax dollars support a wide array of programs ranging from education and health care to national defense and homeland security. Every year, Congress determines how these funds are going to be allocated through a series of 13 appropriations bills.

Major Categories of Spending -- Estimated Fiscal Year 2003 Outlays

	Dollar Amount	Percentage of Federal Budget
Discretionary Spending
Defense	$386 billion	18 percent
Non-Defense	$418 billion	20 percent
Entitlements and other "mandatory" spending (except net interest):
Social Security benefits	$469 billion	22 percent
Medicare (net of premiums)	$245 billion	11 percent
Medicaid	$158 billion	7 percent
Other (e.g. civil service and military retirement, SSI, veterans' benefits, etc.)	$381 billion	18 percent
Miscellaneous receipts that offset spending (not including Medicare premiums)	-$75 billion	-4 percent
Net interest	$155 billion	7 percent
Total	$2,137	100 percent

In addition to funding federal programs like Social Security and Medicare, tax dollars are also returned to states and individual communities to help pay for important local needs. Congresswoman Berkley has secured funding for law enforcement, after-school programs, flood control and a variety of other projects critical to maintaining Southern Nevada's quality of life.

Amount:	Recipient:	Program:
$2 Million	Clark County School District	After-school Programs
$1.9 Million	Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department	Technology Upgrades and Disaster Response Equipment
$930,000	City of Las Vegas	Downtown Development and Construction of a Small Business Incubator
$4 Million	Nevada National Guard	To Aid Local Law Enforcement in Fighting Drug-related Crime
$11.5 Million	Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada	Bus Rapid Transit Project
$4.6 Million	State of Nevada Department of Transportation	Intelligent Transportation Systems
$9.5 Million	Clark County Department of Aviation	Air Traffic Control Tower and Runway Improvements at McCarran International Airport
$3.5 Million	Clark County Department of Aviation	Air Traffic Control Tower and Runway Improvements at North Las Vegas Airport
$5 Million	State of Nevada Department of Transportation	I-15 Improvements
$125 Million	Army Corps of Engineers	Flood Control Projects at the Tropicana and Flamingo Washes
$1.5 Million	Army Corps of Engineers	Environmental Clean-up and Restoration of the Lower Las Vegas Wash and Wetlands
$4.4 Million	Bureau of Reclamation	Environmental Clean-up and Management of the Lake Mead-Las Vegas Wetlands
$81 Million	Nellis Air Force Base	Military Construction and Family Housing Projects

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2340 Paseo Del Prado, Suite D-106
Las Vegas, NV 89102
Phone - (702) 220-9823
Fax - (702) 220-9841