— The National League of Cities in July 2010, announced the results of a survey that shows local governments are now facing a fiscal crisis that will force job losses approaching 500,000 and significant cuts in much needed public services. Representatives from the National League of Cities, the United States Conference of Mayors, and the National Association of Counties jointly released the survey results at a press conference on Capitol Hill. They were joined by several members of Congress offering their support to cities and counties during these difficult economic times.

Local governments are a lifeline for their communities because they provide essential services to their residents. Unfortunately, according to the survey of local governments, these services are being cut and will continue to be cut over the course of the next 18 months as local governments attempt to balance their budgets in response to the ongoing economic crisis. Most of the cuts are coming from public safety, public works, public health, and social services.

For local governments, unemployment and foreclosures resulting from the Great Recession translate into too few revenues making it increasingly difficult to fund or satisfactorily maintain many basic services — not only parks, libraries, and public works projects but also public safety, police and fire services.

"Cities are not only the engines of their local communities, they are also the backbone of their regional economies, where investments in infrastructure and services provide a platform for private sector investment and growth. And cities are the wealth of nations. We are where economic recovery must take place … we are where jobs are increased, or more commonly lately, are lost. We must change that equation,” said Ron Loveridge, president of the National League of Cities.

Local governments continue to make the difficult choices in balancing budgets and finding new revenues to operate. “As families all across our country have tightened their budgets, so have our nation’s counties. Services to the public have been cut, county employees have been laid off or furloughed and capital expenditures have been reduced,” said Judge B. Glen Whitley, National Association of Counties president, Tarrant County, Texas.

But the report demonstrates that all the cost cutting will come at a price to our nation’s recovery and families. The report makes clear that federal action is critical to helping city leaders stabilize local economies and serve families. Continued Whitley, “The Local Jobs for America Act will help ensure that our county employees who fight crime, protect our communities from fire and natural and man-made disasters, and teach our children, are able to continue performing these vital functions. For this reason the National League, Association of Counties, and Mayor's Conference support passage of the Local Jobs for America Act.

The three organizations also emphasized there can be no national economic recovery as long as unemployment remains high and the ability of local governments to respond to the needs of their residents is hindered.

U.S. Conference of Mayors Second Vice President Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia, concluded, “As a nation, we made a good start with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But make no mistake about it: the bleeding at the local level is hurting our nation’s march toward recovery. And people in America's cities don't understand news reports that refer to a rebounding economy when companies still are not hiring.”



While these organizations support federal assistance in keeping teachers and local government workers on the job with infusions of federal monies, we have to think about where the money is coming from. The money will be a tax that must be paid by the people who are suffering from job losses and financial difficulties that have resulted from our crashed economy.



The services provided by our local governments are vital, and need to be continued as much as possible. But local governments must prioritize how they spend their tax money the same as a family prioritizes its money spending. Local government must keep public safety and public works operating at the current level, if at all possible. These two services should be the last ones to be cut from a local government's budget. This will mean some other services now offered may be curtailed until the economy improves.



Now is not the time for government to consider new taxes to maintain services. During such economic downturns as we are now in, government should be looking for ways to reasonably lift such burdens from the shoulders of over-taxed, out-of-work citizens who are struggling to meet the basic needs of caring for their families.