People look at the Manhattan skyline before watching a movie at the Skyline Drive-In NYC cinema experience on June 16, 2020 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
More than 700 cities across the U.S. plan to delay or cancel planned infrastructure projects after their responses to the coronavirus outbreak left budgets with unplugged holes, according to a National League of Cities survey released Tuesday.
The survey, which collected data from over 1,100 municipalities in all 50 states, found that a majority of cities plan to delay or cancel equipment purchases, which could stunt local commercial activity among businesses and add to the layoffs and furloughs already underway in one third of cities that responded.
Cities have also been forced to cut summer-specific programming, including summer youth jobs and summer camps, which primarily affect high-risk youth. Nearly a quarter of cities have cut spending for community and economic development programs.
Most of the cities reported their largest unexpected cost over the last few months involved purchases of personal protective equipment and contracting disinfecting services to keep public buildings clean as they begin to open.
The National League of Cities called on the federal government to provide more federal funding directly to municipalities, warning that if it didn’t the nation’s economic recovery from Covid-19 could be threatened. Nearly 70% of the cities responding to the survey said they have yet to receive funding from the federal government in previous relief packages.
Cities have already requested $500 billion in direct federal aid and economic relief from the coronavirus pandemic, which has left millions unemployed and businesses across the U.S. shuttered for months.
Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of the long-term risks for small businesses being imperiled by the slow economic recovery from a recession that began in February.
“The pandemic is presenting acute risks to small businesses,” Powell said before Congress. “If a small- or medium-sized business becomes insolvent because the economy recovers too slowly, we lose more than just that business. These businesses are the heart of our economy and often embody the work of generations.”
Powell agreed that policymakers may have to use additional tools to pull the country out of an economic slump. The coronavirus has triggered a situation unlike previous recessions the U.S. has endured, and the response may have to be more from Congress than the Federal Reserve, he said.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio warned in April that the city’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak will cost a projected $7.4 billion in lost tax revenue over the current and next fiscal year. The city has since slowly started to reopen its businesses in phases, allowing in-store retail and outdoor dining on Monday.
“That’s today’s estimate. We don’t know what the future brings, but that’s what we know right now and that’s a horrifying figure,” de Blasio said at a press conference.