Revenues for state and local governments rose 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2011, owing to higher taxes and a partially recovered private sector, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, MarketWatch reported. Tax receipts climbed to $321.6 billion in the first three months of the year, compared with $307.2 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Revenues for state and local governments were 2.9 percent above the prior first-quarter peak reached in 2008. U.S. Commerce Department data also show that state and local governments cut spending and investment by 4.2 percent in the first quarter, because growth in tax receipts was not strong enough to pay all their bills, MarketWatch said.