Actions by President Donald Trump and Gov. Ralph Northam have defined the coronavirus response thus far, earning the close scrutiny of the public as the federal and state governments worked to slow the rate of infection and keep people safe.
As the pandemic stretches on, however, attention has rightly turned to local governments, which are weighing decisions — particularly about finances and budgets — that promise lasting effects on their communities and the people who live here.
For city managers and county administrators across Hampton Roads, there will be no greater challenge than the weeks and months to come. Their skills and experience, already tested as the coronavirus swept through the region, will be on full display as they work to keep their communities solvent and their employees protected.
In Norfolk this week, the daunting size and scope of that responsibility came into clear focus.
City Manager Chip Filer, elevated to that position in September, brought to City Council a plan that he described as “budget of shared sacrifice.” According to Pilot reporting, it assumes revenue losses of $15 million by the end of June and $40 million for the fiscal year beginning in July.
Filer’s proposal, adopted by council members this week, calls for $18 million is cuts to staffing: continued furloughs of hundreds of part-time employees and new furloughs for dozens full-time employees along with the elimination of more than 100 vacant positions.
Planned spending on capital projects will take a hit of nearly $80 million and the manager says Norfolk will focus on “core capital needs” such as school maintenance, transportation infrastructure and technology upgrades.
Though residents may quibble over the details, these are necessary steps to keep the city operating, to maintain the delivery of services and to spread the pain of spending cuts as widely as possible. The hope is that the Norfolk which emerges from the pandemic is one able to again set its aspirations high.
Similar actions are taking place across the region in communities which entered the crisis in financial shape that is better or worse than Norfolk. City managers and county supervisors are being forced to use a hatchet on their annual budgets rather than the scalpel they would greater prefer.
Guiding them should be the principle Filer articulated, that of shared sacrifice. Hampton Roads residents have surely heard that a lot these last few months, and they should steel themselves for the results when city and county budgets are adopted and implemented.
Of course, the tough choices won’t end once a plan is in place. The waves that follow this economic tsunami promise to lap against the economic foundation of our communities for the foreseeable future, slowly eroding some parts and changing the landscape — perhaps for good.
Those forces make two things necessary.
First, local governments will have to get leaner and smarter. They will have to be more focused and set clear priorities, both short-term and long-term. There will be no room for redundancies and frivolous spending, not with revenues in freefall and so many people in difficult circumstances.
That should not mean municipalities should retreat from their obligations, especially to the most vulnerable, or abandon their core services. But there will be cuts — some permanent — and they will need to engage citizens to determine what needs to stay and what might be expendable.
Second, cities and counties should look to partner with their neighbors and find ways to share the cost of services wherever possible. Regional collaboration, much discussed in Hampton Roads, offers a way to maintain programs while cutting costs if local officials demonstrate the courage to embrace it.
In 2017, Norfolk and Portsmouth agreed on the Elizabeth River Compact to cooperate on tourism and economic development. Newport News and Hampton have strong ties as well. These sorts of opportunities abound across the region.
Timidity won’t cut it in this crisis. Local governments must be bold — and work together — to endure.
