KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually end, but the negative economic impact will likely continue well beyond it.
State Economists who have been trying to plan for the future say they depend on income taxes and sales taxes and both have been hit hard. Kalamazoo County Deputy Administrator Amanda Morse says it will trickle down to the county level well beyond this year’s budget. She says revenue was down in 2020 and state economists say it will take some time to recover.
“The state is still projecting that these revenue losses will carry forward from 2021 and into 2022. She says the negative impacts may even still be felt in 2024 by some estimates.”
Morse says they have received Federal COVID-19 grants, but may have to return some of it because the Feds have yet to issue guidelines on how it can be spent. Revenues that county programs depend on: state funding, court fines, jail bonds, fees and other sources have all taken a hit, and will also need time to rebound.
Morse says the reductions could be offset by state and federal money, but it’s impossible to predict when, or if, that funding will show up.
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