Mayors Look to Infrastructure Projects to Boost Recovery

Although 94% of U.S. mayors agree that their city’s economic recovery depends on containing and preventing community spread of the COVID-19 virus, their top immediate and long-term priority is investing in infrastructure to generate jobs and economic growth.

That’s the top-line conclusion of “Infrastructure, Technology and Mayors’ Priorities for Confronting a Health, Economic and Societal Crisis,” a new U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) study conducted in partnership with Siemens USA by The Harris Poll. It’s a sentiment shared by 69% of respondents for their respective cities’ near-term outlook and 71% for the longer term.

Among the survey’s key findings:

• More than nine in 10 mayors agree that investment in technology to reimagine, rework, change, or adapt how commercial buildings are being used is necessary for the future of their city (97%) and that investment in buildings/facilities is still necessary for their city despite some tasks being conducted online during the COVID-19 pandemic (94%).
• Two-thirds of mayors say now is the best time for their city to invest in transit-related capital projects to address longer-term needs. That response dovetails with a majority (92%) who agree that updating roads, signaling, sidewalks, or tunnels/bridges will help bring back jobs and revitalize their city’s economy.
• All mayors report that corporations have a role to play in helping to rebuild/revitalize their city’s economy, most commonly through capital investments, favored by 69% of respondents.

However, as illustrated by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent decision to furlough himself and several other municipal employees for a week, a key hurdle in launching such projects is the economic impact the pandemic has made on finances. Ninety-eight percent of mayors surveyed expect their city’s operating budget to decline over the next 12-18 months, with two in three (66%) attributing all or most of the decline to the pandemic.

The vast majority (94%) of mayors agree that the federal government should provide emergency fiscal relief for America’s cities to mitigate the budget shortfalls resulting from COVID-19’s impact on their local economies.

Eighty-six percent say that without financial assistance from the federal government, the ability of their city’s economy to bounce back will be significantly delayed.

“Rebuilding our infrastructure has been a consistent priority for mayors in cities large and small, but our need is made only more urgent by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said USCM president and Louisville (KY) Mayor Greg Fischer. “That’s why it’s so important for lawmakers in Washington to appreciate the severity of the budget crisis that cities are facing as a direct result of the virus.”

Pictured: The Golden Gate Bridge undergoing a seismic retrofit.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Paul Bubny