how are counties doing? an economic status survey are... · 2 $10 million to $25 million 35 26% 3...

November 2009

How are Counties Doing? An Economic Status

Survey

National Association of Counties 1

A Publication of the Research Divisionof NACo’s County Services Department

Written by:Jacqueline Byers, Director of Research

November 2009

How are Counties Doing? An Economic Status

Survey

2 How are Counties Doing? An Economic Status Survey • November 2009

About the National Association of CountiesThe National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States. Founded in 1935, NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,068 counties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public’s understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money. For more information about NACo, visit www.naco.org.

For more information about this publication or the programs included, please contact:

National Association of Counties Research Division a Phone: 202.393-6226

� Web site: www.naco.org

National Association of Counties 3

Executive SummaryIn mid October 2009 the National Association of Counties conducted a survey to look at the continu-ing impact of the economy on a sample of counties across the country. The sample group was made up primarily of midsize to smaller counties. Media reports of the impact of the economy have largely focused on the counties with the largest populations, but the majority of the counties in the country are midsize or smaller. This survey reveals that the downturn is widespread and is impacting counties of all sizes from several directions. In addition, many of these counties are either not anticipating any revenue from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or are still waiting for it to arrive. Responses were received from 138 counties in 34 states. The survey reveals:

County Economic Status County economies are not improving – Fifty six percent of counties report starting their fiscal years with up to $10 million projected shortfall.

Forty seven percent of counties say that the shortfall increased after the start of their fiscal year.

Ninety five percent of counties with additional shortfalls report up to $10 million in additional short-falls.

Revenues creating shortfalls include:Property taxes – 52% �Reductions in state or federal funding – 50% �Sales taxes – 46% �

Counties are responding to the shortfalls by:Delaying purchases and repairs – 60% �Salary/pay freeze for employees – 59% �Delaying capital investments – 54% �Hiring freeze – 49% �Using rainy day/reserve funds – 44% �

Eighty two percent are anticipating shortfalls into their next fiscal year

Sixty one percent are expecting to receive funds from the ARRA

Transportation funding (49%) and Community Development Block Grants (50%) are the most antici-pated funds from ARRA

Thirty five percent of counties anticipating ARRA had not received any as of the date of the survey

NationalAssociationofCountiesEconomicStatusSurvey

October2009

1.Whendoesyourcounty’sfiscalyearbegin?

# Answer Response %

1 BetweenJanuaryandJune 58 45%

2 BetweenJulyandDecember 72 55%

Total 130 100%

2.Whatisthesizeofyourcounty'sannualbudget?

# Answer Response %

1 Upto$10million 39 29%

2 $10millionto$25million 35 26%












14 $750millionto$1billion 0 0%

15 $1billionto$10billion 3 2%

16 $10billionormore 0 0%

Total 134 100%

3.Priortothebeginningofyourfiscalyear,whatwastheamountoftherevenueshortfallthatwasanticipated?

# Answer Response %

1 Noshortfall 53 40%













14 $500millionormore 0 0%

Total 133 100%

4.Hasthatanticipatedshortfallincreasedsincethebeginningofyourfiscalyear?

# Answer Response %

1 Yes 60 47%

2 No 69 53%

Total 129 100%

5.Bywhatamounthasitincreased?

# Answer Response %








8 $250millionormore 0 0%

Total 60 100%

6.Whatrevenuesarethemajorsourcesofyourcounty’srevenueshortfall?(Pleasecheckallthatapply)

# Answer Response %

1 PropertyTaxes 65 52%

2 SalesTaxes 58 46%

3 BuildingFeesandPermits 42 34%

4 TourismTaxes 22 18%

5 BusinessTaxes 11 9%

6 OtherTaxesandFees 35 28%

7Miscellaneousrevenues(includeinvestmentincomehere)

46 37%

8 Reductionsinstateorfederalfunding 62 50%

9 Other(PleaseSpecify) 17 14%

Other(PleaseSpecify)

Interest

Gamingtaxes

MotorFuelTaxes

Fueltax,tagmoney

Inheritancetax

InterestIncome

Interest

Wheeltax

StateMineralRoyalties

WilliamsonAct

FederalForestPayments

Soldhospital

Oil&Gas

IncomeTaxes

Noshortjustlessgrowth

Roadusetaxes

Statistic Value

TotalResponses 125

7.Whichofthefollowingactionshasyourcountytakentoaddressitsrevenueshortfalls?

# Answer Response %

1 Increasedborrowing 7 6%

2 Delayingpurchase&repairs 74 60%

3 Delayingcapitalinvestments 67 54%

4 Increasedpropertytaxes 19 15%

5 Increasedlocaloptionsalestaxrate 3 2%

6 Travelrestrictions 51 41%

7 Useofrainyday/reservefunds 55 44%

8 Hiringfreeze 61 49%

9 Salary/payfreeze 73 59%

10 Benefitscutbacks 24 19%

11 Servicedelivery/availabilitycutbacks 17 14%

12 Furloughsofemployees 15 12%

13 Fourdayworkweek 9 7%

14 Countyfleetreorganization 16 13%

15 Laborcontractrenegotiations 16 13%

16 Layoffsofemployees 32 26%

17 Other(Pleasespecify) 12 10%

Other(Pleasespecify)

Spendingfreeze

Mandatorybudgetreductions

BudgetCuts

Consolidatedpurchasing

Acrosstheboardbudgetcuts

Noemployeeraises

Departmentbudgetreductions

2010reductionofofficehours

Goodmanagement

Notfillingvacatedpositions

Noactiontakenabletomanagewithwhatwehavetoprovidetheneededservices.

PayfreezewasdonebytheelectedofficialsanduniongavebackpartofCOLAfornow

Statistic Value

TotalResponses 124

8.Doesyourcountyanticipatecontinuingshortfallsintothenextfiscalyear?

# Answer Response %

1 Yes 93 82%

2 No 20 18%

Total 113 100%

9.Hasyourcountyreceived,ordoyouexpecttoreceive,fundsfromtheAmericanRecoveryandReinvestmentAct?

# Answer Response %

1 Yes 82 61%

2 No 53 39%

Total 135 100%

10.DoesyourcountyanticipatefundsfromanyofthefollowingRecoveryActprograms?

# Answer Response %

1NOAACoastalandMarineHabitatRestorationProgramGrants

1 1%

2EnergyEfficiencyandConservationBlockGrant(formulaandcompetitive)

38 46%

3 Grants‐In‐AidforAirports 9 11%

4 CommunityDevelopmentBlockGrant 41 50%

5 WorkforceInvestmentActPrograms 22 27%

6 BroadbandAccess 17 21%

7 Water/WastewaterInfrastructure 17 21%

8 NeighborhoodStabilizationProgram 8 10%

9 ByrneJAG 23 28%

10 Transportationfunds 40 49%

11StatePassThroughfundforTransportation

33 40%

12StatePassThroughfundsforotherpurposes(pleaselist)

10 12%

13 Other(pleasespecify) 5 6%

StatePassThroughfundsforotherpurposes(pleaselist) Other(pleasespecify)

SocialServices CommunityServiceBlockGrant

RecoveryZonebondsLawEnforcementStimulus$forSheriffandDA

Montana Otherinfrastructure

GravelCrushing;PreliminaryEngineeringofAccessRoad JAG

publichealth,lowincome,seniors,peoplewithdisabilitiesfunding

HRSA‐HealthCenter

SolidWaste

Various

Statistic Value

TotalResponses 82

11.Inyourbestestimate,whatisthetotalamountyourcountyisanticipatingfromARRA?

TextResponse

$50,000.00

Unknown

$60,000

$100,000

1to2milliondollars(?)

$128,000.00

$3,000,000

$250,000(Thisdoesnotaffectourbudget‐wouldnotconsiderprojectwithoutfunding)

$50,000

$55,000,000

Unknown

$7,000,000

$200,000

$465,000.00

$5,000,000

$10,000,000.00

$4,000,000

$20,000,000

$3,000,000.

$5,000,000

$10,000,000

$100000

TEXTRESPONSES(continuedfrompreviouspage)

$6,381,742

$138K

$100,000

$4,246,000

$500,000

$8,600,000

$5,000,000

$3,250,000.00

$12,000,000

$10,000,000

$2,000,000

$600,000.00

$5,079,716

$35,000,000

$159,000

$260,000

$1,000,000.oo

$10,000,000.00

notsure

$235,000

$945,000

$400,000

$723,843

$150,320.00

$1,000,000.00

$10,000,000.00

$100,000

$28,433,466

$35,000,000

$500,000

$35,000

$400millionbyendofyearIncluding

$475,000.00

$50,000

$100,000

$4,000,000.

$1,000,000

$4,500,000

$530,000

$35,000,000

$1,158,350.

TEXTRESPONSES(continuedfrompreviouspage)

$500,000.

$500,000

$60,000

$7,541,886

$3,333,000

Statistic Value

TotalResponses 68

12.Whatpercentageofthisfundinghaveyoualreadyreceived?

# Answer Response %

1 Upto10% 23 29%

2 10‐25% 11 14%

3 25‐50% 11 14%

4 50‐75% 4 5%

5 75‐100% 3 4%

6 None 28 35%

Total 80 100%

13.Tothebestofyourknowledge,hasyourcounty'sbondratingchangedduringthiseconomiccrisis?

# Answer Response %

1 Yes 11 11%

2 No 86 89%

Total 97 100%

14.Doyouhaveanyadditionalcomments?

TextResponse

Impactshavebeennegligibleinthecurrentfiscalyearhoweverweanticipatesignificantdeclineinassessedvaluationandrevenueinthenextfiscalyearduetoa60‐65%declineinmineralvaluesanddeclinesinproduction.

StateandFederalkeepcuttingandtakingawayfromsmallercounties.Smallcountieshavenootherrevenuestodependorbringinincome.

Wedidnotreceiveashortfallbutexpecttoseeasignificantdropfollowingthere‐evaluationofpropertyvaluesoverthenextthreeyears.Alsoforruralcounties$10millionisahighbudgetforcountyoperationsespeciallyifyoudonothavejurisdictionoverroadsmonies.

Sendmoney!

WeareintheprocessoflookingatARRAfundsforenergyandairport;noprogressinthisareayet.WeneedtosupportandpassHR2209‐‐thefederallegislationthatallowspersonswhoarearrestedtomaintaintheirhealthbenefitsuntilacriminalconvictionoccurs;thisisacostlyissueforourindigentfunding,nottomentionmessesupthepersonwholosesbenefitsandthenhastorefilewhentheyarereleasedfromjail.WeneedstabilityinourpubliclandscountiesforPILTandSecureRuralSchoolsoramarketbasedpaymentbasedonpubliclandacresinthecounty.

stateendingupkeepingmostofthefunds

EstimateonARRAfundsisaroughestimate.Wehavesubmittedrequestsforsomeofthecompetitivegrantsandhavenoideaatthistimewhetherwereceiveanyofthisfunding.WearerequestingseveralmillionfortheHealthAgency.

AlthoughNYSCountiesaresomewhatuniquewithourCountyshareofMedicaidexpenses,thePgmnationallyneedsmajorreformandrethinkingparticularlyinlightofhealthCarereformlegatfedleveland"expansion"ofMedicaideligibility

Thebondratingquestionshouldbemoredetailed.Ourbudgetisstablewithhigherthanexpectedrevenueandourbondratinghasimprovedtwiceinthepast3years.ihavecompletedthesurveyasoneelectedofficial.OfficialinfoshouldcomefromourCountyAdministratorforgreateraccuracy.

Veryluckytogettransportationfunds.

RuralAmericatypicallylagsatleastayearbehindtheeconomyoftheNation

ARRAfundingwasalldecidedbeforeitgottothecountylevel.Itwasnottransparent.Forthemostpart,fundswerecontrolledatfederalorstatelevel,withanappearancethatitwouldbeputinthepocketsoftheneedy.Itdidnot.Weappreciateanyhelpwemightget,butneedmoreinputabilityandaccessibilitytotheARRAfunds.

CountyroadimprovementdollarswerepassedtolocalcitytodoworkoncountyroadsunderOregonDOTrule.OnlydirectARRAmoneywasHRSAoperatingandcapitaldollarsforFederallyQualifiedHealthCenter.

Mostofthisdidnotpertaintoourcounty.Thenumbersaremuchlargerthanweoperatewith.

OurIndigentbudgethasgreatlyincreased.

Stimuluspaymentsshouldhavegonetocountiesoursizeforinfrastructureimprovements.Overlayingourcountyroadswithpaymentwouldhaveaneconomicbenefitforthenext30years.Itwouldbemoneywellspentratherthanallthesespecialearmarkedfundsforthingsthatgovernmentalentitiesdonotreallyneed.

DonotknowhowmuchthestateisusingtosupplementfundsasthePAbudgetwasjustpassedlastweekandnooneknowstheresult.Itisourunderstandingthatissome3billionthattheytook.

Ileftsomeunansweredbecausetheydonotapply.

AdditionalResponses(continuedfrompreviouspage)

Oureconomicsituationhasreallysuffered.Wecouldusemoremoneyforinfrastructurelikeroads,waterlinesandservices.

Respondents

County State Region Population

Cullman Alabama South 81,324

LaPaz Arizona West 20,086

Siskiyou California West 44,542

Trinity California West 14,317

Ventura California West 797,740

Yuba California West 73,067

ClearCreek Colorado West 8,908

Costilla Colorado West 3,232

Elbert Colorado West 22,929

Gilpin Colorado West 5,153

Jefferson Colorado West 533,339

RioBlanco Colorado West 6,340

Summit Colorado West 26,843

Manatee Florida South 315,766

Dougherty Georgia South 95,754

Bannock Idaho West 80,812

Idaho Idaho West 15,448

Jefferson Idaho West 23,860

NezPerce Idaho West 38,975

TwinFalls Idaho West 74,284

Champaign Illinois Midwest 193,636

Jefferson Illinois Midwest 40,083

Jackson Indiana Midwest 42,193

Montgomery Iowa Midwest 10,870

Barber Kansas Midwest 4,674

Brown Kansas Midwest 10,009

Chase Kansas Midwest 2,804

Cheyenne Kansas Midwest 2,742

Elk Kansas Midwest 3,047

Ottawa Kansas Midwest 6,026

Shawnee Kansas Midwest 174,709

Wallace Kansas Midwest 1,404

Hart Kentucky South 18,561

Oldham Kentucky South 56,874

TerrebonneParish Louisiana South 108,576

RESPONDENTS(continuedfrompreviouspage)

Kent Maryland South 20,151

Washington Maryland South 145,384

Worcester Maryland South 49,274

Huron Michigan Midwest 32,805

Lake Michigan Midwest 11,014

Jackson Minnesota Midwest 10,734

Wright Minnesota Midwest 119,701

Buchanan Missouri Midwest 89,408

Granite Montana West 2,821

Sheridan Montana West 3,283

Buffalo Nebraska Midwest 45,354

Pierce Nebraska Midwest 7,231

CarsonCity Nevada West 54,867

Genesee NewYork Northeast 54,821

Onslow NorthCarolina South 165,938

Barnes NorthDakota Midwest 10,682

Burleigh NorthDakota Midwest 78,689

Divide NorthDakota Midwest 1,986

Dunn NorthDakota Midwest 3,318

Foster NorthDakota Midwest 3,447

McIntosh NorthDakota Midwest 2,639

McLean NorthDakota Midwest 8,337

Nelson NorthDakota Midwest 3,166

Ramsey NorthDakota Midwest 11,234

Sargent NorthDakota Midwest 4,048

Slope NorthDakota Midwest 675

Stark NorthDakota Midwest 22,575

Stutsman NorthDakota Midwest 20,394

Towner NorthDakota Midwest 2,202

Allen Ohio Midwest 105,168

Carroll Ohio Midwest 28,439

Pickaway Ohio Midwest 54,544

Sandusky Ohio Midwest 60,637

Tuscarawas Ohio Midwest 91,348

Cotton Oklahoma South 6,191

Delaware Oklahoma South 40,425

Kay Oklahoma South 45,632

Marshall Oklahoma South 14,919

Oklahoma Oklahoma South 706,617

Benton Oregon West 81,859

Lincoln Oregon West 45,946

RESPONDENTS(continuedfrompreviouspage)

Malheur Oregon West 30,907

Umatilla Oregon West 73,526

Armstrong Pennsylvania Northeast 68,790

Chester Pennsylvania Northeast 491,489

Crawford Pennsylvania Northeast 88,411

Greene Pennsylvania Northeast 39,344

Lawrence Pennsylvania Northeast 90,272

Butte SouthDakota Midwest 9,593

Lawrence SouthDakota Midwest 23,524

Campbell Tennessee South 40,936

Gibson Tennessee South 49,257

Scott Tennessee South 22,039

Haskell Texas South 5,216

Jackson Texas South 14,146

Lavaca Texas South 18,652

Liberty Texas South 75,333

PaloPinto Texas South 27,486

SanPatricio Texas South 68,399

Victoria Texas South 86,755

Sevier Utah West 20,014

Weber Utah West 227,487

Gloucester Virginia South 38,656

Island Washington West 81,424

Pocahontas WestVirginia South 8,472

Johnson Wyoming West 8,464

Statistic Value

TotalResponses 138

25 Massachusetts Avenue, NW l Suite 500 l Washington, DC 20001 l 202.393.6226 l fax 202.393.2630 l www.naco.org

how are counties doing? an economic status survey are... · 2 $10 million to $25 million 35 26% 3...

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