The coronavirus recession will erode city budgets in many insidious ways. It will squeeze the state aid that is a lifeblood to Rochester and Buffalo in upstate New York. It will cut the sales tax revenue in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where a healthy government depends on people buying things. The crisis has arrived faster than the damage from the Great Recession ever did. The hardest-hit cities like Rochester and Buffalo could face 20 percent losses.

Source: New York Times August 17, 2020 09:00 UTC