Mississippi cities face revenue shortfall amid coronavirus pandemic

MISSISSIPPI (WCBI)- Not only are individual Mississippians financially impacted by COVID-19 but city budgets are also feeling the pocket pinch.

Some people are staying home meaning they’re shopping less.

That means a drop in sales tax revenue.

Sales tax is the fuel so city budgets across the state.

With less revenue, cities will have to find ways to get more money back in which could mean cuts to important services.

Executive Director for the Mississippi Municipal League, Shari Veazey says this big issue across the state.

“Some of our cities, particularly the mid to smaller ones, have not seen a lot in the way of expenses, but they’ve seen dips in revenue. Even in a small town just a little bit of revenue loss is a serious issue because they don’t really have a way to make that up. Nobody wants to raise property taxes, and in some of our smaller communities, a mil doesn’t generate a lot of property tax, so that isn’t really a good solution anyway,” said Veazey.

The Mississippi Municipal League is asking congress to pass a fourth stimulus bill that would allow cities to use the funds to replace revenue loss.