City Officials to Administration, Congress: Make Health Care, Transportation, Education Priorities
by Christiana McFarland
 Skyrocketing health care costs, crumbling infrastructure and failing schools are taking their toll on local governments across the U.S. According to a new NLC survey of 365 city officials, seven in 10 report that the availability of affordable health care/services and quality of transportation infrastructure is a problem for their city. Health care, transportation and education top the list of issues that city officials feel are the most important for the next presidential Administration and Congress to address.
Additionally, in the wake of the economic crisis, more than six in 10 city officials are pessimistic about the general direction in which the country is heading. More local leaders are pessimistic now than during the two previous recessionary periods of the early 1990s and 2000s.
Other major survey findings from the 2008 State of America’s Cities: Annual Opinion Survey of Municipal Officials include:
• Six in 10 (62 percent) of city officials report that overall economic conditions have worsened during the last year, and seven in 10 (69 percent) report that overall economic conditions are either a major (19 percent) or moderate (50 percent) problem for their city.
• City officials from all parts of metropolitan areas — core cities in larger (78 percent) and smaller-mid-sized (54 percent) regions, inner ring suburbs (68 percent) and developing suburbs (57 percent) — are more likely to say that foreclosures have worsened over the past year, than to report that they have improved or not changed.
• City relations with federal (21 percent) and state (32 percent) partners have worsened over the past year, while relations with regional (35 percent) and business and civic (42 percent) partners have improved.
• One in two (54 percent) city officials say that their ability to finance city services is either a major (36 percent) or moderate (18 percent) problem for their city; a problem exacerbated by negative impacts of volatile fuel and energy costs.
Economic and Housing Conditions
Cities continue to feel the devastating impacts of broader economic conditions and the housing finance crisis. At least 40 percent of city officials report that key indicators of local economic performance have worsened over the past year, including foreclosures, unemployment/poverty, blight and vacant properties and ability to finance city services.
Survey results indicate that unemployment and poverty is truly a national problem, with nearly one in two city officials from all regions of the country — Northeast, Midwest, South and West — more likely to report worsening, rather than improving, conditions.
Additionally, city officials from all parts of metropolitan areas are more likely to say that foreclosures have worsened over the past year, than to report that they have improved or not changed.
The most common local strategies to combat issues related to the housing crisis include stricter code enforcement, maintaining foreclosed properties, including mowing lawns and removing trash, and initiating education campaigns to help residents avoid foreclosure.
Governance
More city officials report that city relations with federal and state governments have worsened over the past year than improved, while more say that city relations with regional and business and civic partners have improved. Additionally, about six in 10 report that impacts of unfunded mandates and preemptions from federal and state governments have worsened since last year.
These findings may suggest a change in the way that city officials are choosing to deal with local challenges in the wake of increasingly dysfunctional intergovernmental partnerships.
“The survey clearly shows that the intergovernmental partnership has broken down. The Federal government and cities need to come together to work for the common goals of improving our nation’s infrastructure and assisting our citizens during these difficult economic times,” says NLC President, Kathleen Novak, mayor, Northglenn, Colo. “This will not only help get our nation back to work, but will also make our cities stronger and more globally competitive for decades and generations to come.”
Local Finances and Sustainability
One in three city officials say that their ability to finance city services is a major problem; another 20 percent report that it’s a moderate problem. A major contributing factor to local fiscal concerns is the rapid rise in fuel and energy costs.
Although fuel and energy costs have recently declined, negative impacts from recent increases continue to strain municipal budgets. Additionally, broader volatility in energy costs indicates that the current lull in prices will not remain.
Local actions to reduce use of fuel and energy, such as increasing use of alternative fuels/green technology alternative modes of transportation, represent not only short-term efforts to save costs, but broader changes in the way cities are thinking about energy consumption and sustainability.
About the survey: The 2008 State of America’s Cities: Annual Opinion Survey of Municipal Officials is an annual survey of municipal officials that has been conducted for about 20 years. These annual studies offer a framework for understanding how local officials view issues and problems they face in governing the nation’s cities and towns. This research is also part of a broader effort by NLC to track changing local conditions.
Details: For more information or a copy of the report, contact Christiana McFarland, Research Manager in the Center for Policy and Research, at mcfarland@nlc.org or (202) 626-3036. Click here to view the report.
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