REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on Request for Letter of Support for AB 398: COVID-19 Local Government and School Recovery and Relief Act [Council Pillar: Enhance Community Engagement and Transparency]
Report
BACKGROUND
As a result of the necessary shelter-in-place measures that the State of California, Santa Clara County and City of Santa Clara have undertaken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the City has and will continue to experience an extreme loss of revenue from hotel taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, charges for City services, and the temporary closing of Levi's Stadium and Santa Clara Convention Center. Additionally, the City has expanded our Silicon Valley Power's rate assistance program to include residents who are financially impacted by COVID-19, and launched a Small Business Assistance Grant Program, a supplemental food program for our vulnerable and low-income residents, and, most recently, an Emergency Rental Assistance Program for low-income households, to assist our community during the pandemic. As a result of the loss of revenue and our various COVID-19 community programs, the City anticipates a shortfall of $10 million for this fiscal year, and an additional $22.7 million for FY 2020/21 based on current projections that economic activity will return to a reduced level as the State and County's shelter-in-place orders are eased.
These projected budget shortfalls are not unique to Santa Clara. According to a factsheet provided by the Office of Assembly Member Kansen Chu:
In May of 2020, over 4 million people had filed for unemployment over the course of seven weeks. COVID-19 and the resulting stay at home orders have led us into what is being called the COVID-19 recession. As Californians are struggling, the recession is reducing revenues available to government to provide the services people need. According to analysis by the League of California Cities, California cities are projecting a nearly $7 billion general revenue sho...
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