CLEARFIELD, Utah — Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd is among other city and municipal leaders from around the country who are asking for federal financial support to soften the blow of COVID-19.
Shepherd, along with other mayors from Florida, Colorado, and New Jersey, joined a virtual Congressional briefing to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on America's cities, towns and villages.
Shepherd said Clearfield is projected to lose more than 12 percent of its revenue due to COVID-19, and the city has already furloughed nearly all of its part-time employees - representing about 65 percent of Clearfield's workforce.
According to a study by the National League of Cities, local governments are facing a $360 billion revenue loss over the next three years.
As the mayor of a smaller city, Shepherd hopes the federal government can provide some financial relief for Clearfield and other cities like his.
"Fiscally, as a city, trying to budget with a shortfall, this is the biggest moving target I've ever seen. Trying to plan has literally been an impossibility," Shepherd said during the virtual meeting. "We don't know what to do with that loss of income. We've looked for relief and hoped for that relief in the first package. It went to large cities and not to small cities."
NLC's study says Utah municipalities are projected to lose 12.5 percent in revenue this year. The organization is calling for federal funding "to protect families, municipal workers and America's economic future."