Facing reduced revenues because of COVID-19, many local governments ignored best practices and returned to strategies from past recessions to make cuts.

In the spring of 2020, in addition to the COVID-19 public health emergency, US state governments were also facing budgetary crises as revenue sources such as sales and fees fell as lockdowns began. Using North Carolina as a case study, Whitney Afonso looks at municipalities’ budget strategies in the face of falling revenues. Rather than following best practice by investing in infrastructure, she finds that local governments primarily used similar measures as in past recessions such as cancelling or delaying large projects, reducing staff and accessing existing savings.