City revenue from several categories such as taxes and fees has decreased by more than 50% since the start of the pandemic, Evanston city officials reported in a virtual budget conversation with members of the community Wednesday night.

The revenue shortfall, which has prompted several money-saving measures from the city, is directly linked to the pandemic, Kate Lewis-Lakin, the city’s budget coordinator, said. A $12 million shortfall in the general fund is projected for 2020, which she said is in part a result of the roughly 20% reduction in the important sales and income tax, and a 50% to 80% reduction in smaller revenue sources like the amusement tax, hotel tax or parking revenue.

The city’s total budget was over $320 million for the 2020 fiscal year, according to the presentation.

“Around one-third of that is the general fund, which is where most of the services you as residents are familiar with are financed from,” Lewis-Lakin said. “Much of health and human services, for instance, comes from the general fund.”

Almost 63% of the general fund, or $73 million, was used on salaries and benefits for city employees in 2020. To combat the impact of the pandemic on the city’s budget, the city has implemented measures like temporary furloughs, several layoffs and a hiring freeze, which Lewis-Lakin said have helped the city save about $4 million.

Deputy City Manager Kimberly Richardson said while the personnel cuts may result in changes to how services are managed from the city’s side, residents will likely not see any changes, despite additional strain on the city’s employees.

Richardson said Evanston currently has nowhere near the 800 employees needed to fill all city jobs, and will have to survive with reduced staff in certain areas, despite additional tasks.

“For example, we have been contact tracing for a long time — we were some of the first to do it,” she said. “But these were the same people from our health department who still had to go out and do inspections in restaurants.”

The police department, which receives the largest share of the general fund at 35%, currently has more than 10 vacancies, Lewis-Lakin said. She said the city has worked hard to mitigate the economic fallout of the pandemic and should be in an “okay place” by the end of 2020. But it’s important to keep in mind that the economic impact will continue in 2021, she said. In the coming year, the city expects a revenue shortfall of $5 million to $7 million.

Grants from the federal government and other sources have also mitigated the impact of the pandemic. The city is expecting an approximate total of $4.5 million through these grants. However, the use of these funds is generally tied strictly to the pandemic response.

“It is essentially just covering what we have in new expenses and won’t offset any of the losses as we might hope,” Lewis-Lakin said.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @linus_at

RELATED STORIES: 

— City projects a $5 to $7 million loss in revenue for 2021 budget

— Summer in Evanston: City faces significant budget losses, Council discusses reimagining of EPD— City Council receives economic development update and recommendations in light of COVID-19 impact