They achieve self-funding by usually having taxation authority or fund themselves through fees for services rendered.
Some OBEs receive funding from the federal government in the form of block grants.
Political scientists Robert E. England and David R. Morgan state, "Through OBEs, Detroit is now dominated by business elites."
Within the EU, accusations have been made that off-budget enterprises are sometimes used by national governments to circumvent the Stability and Growth Pact, as public debt will no longer appear in the annual budget deficit and in total public debt, which may not exceed certain percentages of GDP (3% and 60% respectively) under the Maastricht criteria.
During the past years, there have been various disputes between the European Commission and national governments on the classification of such enterprises.