City Expecting Massive Tax Shortfall Due to Virus

Shreveport's Chief Financial Officer, Sherricka Fields Jones, talks with 101.7 / 710 KEEL's Robert J Wright and Erin McCarty about the tax revenue revenue lost to the city because of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Jones tells KEEL listeners that the city could be facing a shortage of as much $25 million by the end of April alone and that Mayor Adrian Perkins and other city leaders are considering a number of solutions.

Jones also explains the decision made by Perkins that he, senior staffers and department heads will take a 10% pay cut beginning immediately and lasting through the end of the city's fiscal year.

The CFO also says that the state is anticipating getting around $1.8 billion from the $2.2 trillion federal economic relief bill, but that it's unclear at this time how much of that will go to assist local governments.