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U.S. Mayors' Survey Shows Main Street America Still in Recession; Cities in Dire Need of Jobs
November 6, 2009In the face of current and projected future budget shortfalls, The U.S. Conference of Mayors today released a survey that shows the economic condition in cities is now serious enough to warrant targeted federal support. In fact, sixty percent of 158 mayors surveyed in 41 states and Puerto Rico say a targeted program of fiscal assistance is needed to help prevent further drastic budget cuts that translate into losses of personnel and reductions in public services (full survey at www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/SurveyonCityFiscalConditions11709.pdf). In cities ranging from Los Angeles and Chicago, to Lima (OH) and Gastonia (NC), two out of three mayors are expecting budget shortfalls this year. Even more - four out of five - are projecting shortfalls in their next fiscal year. In nearly 27 percent of the surveyed cities, this year's budget shortfalls amount to 10 percent or more of total (operating and capital) budgets; in a few of the cities the shortfalls range from as much as 20 to 30 percent of total budgets. When asked about next year, the vast majority of mayors (86 percent of survey respondents) say projected shortfalls will be the same or larger than this year's. Of these, 39 percent expect it will be larger, and 22 percent expect it will be much larger. Full release.