Congressmen Tom Reed (R-Corning) and Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island, Queens) joined the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) in a digital press conference Wednesday to discuss federal efforts to provide direct financial support to local governments as they lead the response to COVID-19 and the reopening of their communities.
“From day one, New York’s counties have been working to stop the spread of the virus with testing, tracing and quarantine monitoring; while providing services like food assistance and childcare for families impacted by the crisis,” NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario said. “Now, with resources stretched thin, counties have once again been called upon to step up and implement the reopening of our state. We need our federal partners to provide direct assistance to local governments so that we can continue this vital work and avoid wide-ranging program cuts, service interruptions, and layoffs at a time when we are restarting our economies and continuing to battle the spread of the disease.”
This economic scenario leaves counties vulnerable to a quadruple threat of:
– Declining local revenues, especially sales tax, but also hotel occupancy taxes, mortgage recording taxes, gaming revenues, among other revenues;
– Higher county spending necessary to respond to the health emergency, social service demands, and the State's requirements for reopening;
– The loss of state reimbursement; and
– The potential of significant losses for small businesses on our main streets that could threaten jobs and the property tax base over the short to mid-term.
“Counties across the country are bearing the brunt of COVID’s economic devastation while their firefighters, police officers, first responders, and other essential workers continue to provide their neighbors with critical services,” said Reed. “We believe the federal government must step up to ensure localities are fully supported during this crisis by passing bipartisan legislation like the SMART Act, which will provide direct aid to our local governments. As a former mayor, we thank NYSAC for its ongoing commitment to making sure the challenges facing local governments are well understood. It is only fair that we continue to do our part and work with the administration and congressional leaders to secure the economic assistance counties deserve.”
Over the last few months, NYSAC has continued to advocate for direct federal aid to local to help offset the economic impact of the novel coronavirus on New York's counties. A report released by NYSAC projects potentially catastrophic drops in revenue between $2 billion to $3.6 billion over the next year – projections that have been borne out by county sales tax data that show county sales tax collections for April down 26 percent compared to the same period last year.
Rep. Suozzi said, “New York is the epicenter of this Pandemic and, as a former County Executive, I understand the pressures our local counties are under as they try and address local concerns while facing declining revenues. That is why my first priority is to deliver more federal dollars to New York, including through a special fund which will be distributed based upon rate of infection and not irrelevant funding formulas used by the federal government, which have proved to be insufficient in the face of this global pandemic.”
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May 31, 2020 at 10:58AM
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Reed, counties call for direct aid to local governments - Hornell Evening Tribune
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