The financial impact of the Coronavirus crisis in the city of Cypress has been termed “significant” by the city’s budget watchdog.
The COVID-19 “impact on the economy is of great concern to me,” said Matt Burton, Director of Finance and Administration during his report at the Council’s most recent regular meeting.
Cypress officials, like cities everywhere, are closely watching revenues evaporate as citizens are under state orders to stay at home to protect public health.
For Cypress, however, Burton said the city was “as prepared to deal with the situation as you can be,” citing what was, until this crisis, a running surplus in the current budget and more than a decade of putting funds aside.
The city of Cypress, like other cities, depends heavily on sales tax collections to fund a variety of programs, salaries and other budget expenses. More than 2,000 local governments around the nation have already announced furloughs and budget cuts.
According to Burton’s report, the City of Cypress will likely avoid any drastic actions and could very well end the year with a balanced budget.
Although the city’s fiscal year ends June 30, the blow extracted by the COVID-19 lockdown will be very muchy softened by a $2.2 million surplus that the city had already accumulated by mid-year.
Burton said the COVID crisis was unlike any other such disaster in that while citizens were not in a position to spend heavily, the city conversely had fewer costs associated with this disaster, such as cleanup, while public safety and health has been beefed up (see related story).
Longer term, Burton said the city has been “saving where we could” since the 2008 financial crisis and has put $12 million in reserve, should it be needed.
“It’s too early to tell whether any of it will be needed,” said Burton, adding that until the crisis is truly over and other factors have come into play, the city could not know whether or not any of those funds would be needed.
Burton said it was entirely possible that “we still end the year under budget.”
Burton said there would be additional pension costs and revenue shortfalls and noted that the city was losing revenue also on rental cancellations and program mitigation, but the costs to the city, again, were minimal.
Earlier in the meeting, Burton said the city continued to pay employees and vendors as the lockdown wears on.
Meanwhile, City Manager Peter Grant said city staff had been very busy trying to cope with the many challenges of making changes and informing citizens, but he thanked the city for their response.
Grant said he’s been “struck by the kindness and thoughtfulness” of city residents thus far, noting that it “is a hallmark for Cypress” and there were many statements of “neighbors watching out for neighbors.”
“It is Cypress at its finest,” he said, noting that once the COVID crisis is over, there will be official recognition.
Cameron Harding, Director of Community Services, said the city is in the process of refunding more than 3,000 transactions to residents for various things such as park rentals, sports registration and other things that had to be cancelled by the crisis.
He said senior food programs are being tweaked to allow seniors to leave their homes less yet get the same number of meals. He noted all of the baseball and softball seasons cancelled by the crisis, but he too, noted.
Major activities and programs scheduled for this summer will be reviewed later before any determinations will be made. In addition, he said the city had developed and implemented a “virtual recreation center” for city residents.
Director of Development, Doug Dancs, said his department was moving forward with major contracts for arterial overlays that would begin as soon as public health allows. Also, he said, the development department had instituted ways for vendors to pay and receive critical permits and other paperwork required.
City Clerk Alisha Farnell provided citizens, and the council, with a brief overview of the way city business was being transacted during the lockdown, including how citizens who find audio recordings and other documents on the city’s website.
She also reported a massive surge in citizen engagement since the crisis began, noting that 900 residents had downloaded the city’s new phone app in the past couple of weeks.
In other action, the city appointed council members Stacy Berry and Paulo Morales to serve on a special ad-hoc committee with other members to investigate requests for assistance from nonprofits in the city. Grant, who was directed by the council at their last meeting to study the feasibility of assisting the many nonprofits in the city, said an ad-hoc committee is needed to take a deeper dive into each request, predicting the coronavirus will cast a long shadow for an extended period of time.
Grant also confirmed that a May 19 blood drive at the Cypress Community Center would indeed be held, noting that blood donations are considered “an essential activity.” Cox said proper protocols will be in place along with social distancing.
