More than 700 cities say they will have to hold off on or cancel planned infrastructure projects after the coronavirus forced their budgets to shrink, CNBC reports.
A new Nation League of Cities survey released Tuesday indicates that most cities have to change infrastructure plans, cut programming funding and even lay off or furlough employees as a result of a budget shortfall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The survey results show:
- 65% of cities say they will be forced to delay or cancel capital expenses and infrastructure projects.
- 61% of cities say they are delaying or canceling equipment purchases.
- 24% of cities say they are making significant cuts to community and economic development programs.
- 13% of cities are making cuts to code inspection, planning, and permitting, which is delaying reopening and the growth of local businesses.
- 32% of cities say they will have to furlough or lay off employees.
- 66% of cities say they were forced to cut summer-specific programming, including summer youth jobs and summer camps.
A majority of cities, 70%, said their largest unexpected cost over the last few months has been purchasing personal protective equipment for employees and hiring disinfecting services to keep public buildings clean as they reopen.
The National League of Cities already asked the federal government to provide more funding directly to municipalities. Nearly 70% of the cities responding to the poll said they had yet to receive any federal dollars.
Cities requested $500 billion from the federal government to help with economic recovery post coronavirus.
The survey collected information from 1,117 municipalities across all 50 states between June 8-16.
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