Western City June 2020

Executive Director’s Message by Carolyn Coleman

The Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Essential City Services Throughout California, local leaders have worked tirelessly to help residents stay safe and at home in an effort to prevent further transmission of COVID-19. At the same time, cities have delivered relief for individuals and local Main Street businesses and planned for the gradual reopening of their communities. These actions have not only saved lives, but also have served as a model for the country. However, as California cities respond to this public health crisis, together they are experiencing a $7 billion general revenue shortfall over the next two fiscal years as a result of the sharp downturn in economic activity caused by the stay-at-home orders and significant increases in unbudgeted expenses incurred responding to the pandemic. Cities, like the state, are required to balance their budgets. Without state or federal assistance, budget shortfalls will result in cuts to core city services, like public safety and public works.

Analysis Shows Far-Reaching Impacts on City Budgets A data analysis released by the League in late April found that core services to residents face significant cuts or reductions without state or federal aid. Nine out of 10 cities report they are considering cutting or furloughing police officers, firefighters, planners, public works engineers, and other essential local government workers, or the core services they deliver. Eight out of 10 cities report that police services will be adversely affected, and a similar number of cities report projected cuts to public works services. When it comes to fire services, 80 percent of cities with a population greater than 250,000 project significant impacts,

and in cities of less than 25,000 in population, half report that fire services will be impacted. In early March, Congress passed and the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which included $150 billion for states and local governments to help address the increase in expenses associated with COVID-19. This aid is meaningful and welcomed. However, only cities and counties with populations greater than 500,000 were eligible to receive a direct allocation of CARES Act funding. In California, just six of our 482 cities were eligible to receive this aid directly from the federal government. Because COVID-19 has directly impacted all of our cities, we are urging the state to set aside a portion of the CARES Act funding it received for the more than 90 percent of California cities that did not receive a direct allocation and are struggling to address the crisis and still keep city operations going. That’s also why we’re calling on the federal government to provide $500 billion in direct and flexible aid to local governments nationwide to help cities recover and reopen. All of our cities are reeling from the impact of COVID-19 on their budgets, and we can’t afford to leave any of them behind. continued

Core Services Face Significant Impacts Regardless of City Size Percentage of cities by population 90% 87% 82% 79%

78%

84%

90% 90%

87%

80% 80%

71% 57%

53%

50% 30%

30% 21%

19% 11%

< 25,000 Emergency Medical Services www.westerncity.com