HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 33, 2020CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO RESOLUTION NO. 33
Series of 2020 TITLE: A RESOLUTION OF THE WHEAT RIDGE CITY COUNCIL DECLARING THAT THE CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE IS ESSENTIAL AND URGING CONGRESS TO ALLOCATE
FAIR, FEDERAL EMERGENCY SUPPORT TO REOPEN AND REBUILD LOCAL AMERICAN ECONOMIES
WHEREAS, America’s cities, towns and villages face unprecedented threats due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic emergency; and
WHEREAS, municipalities are essential to America’s economic recovery and
without funding support for local governments, municipalities may go from being a
critical part of the economic solution, to becoming a major obstacle to long-term stabilization and recovery; and
WHEREAS, America’s cities, towns and villages will experience budgetary shortfalls of up to $134 billion in fiscal year 2020 alone, and the negative effects of the
pandemic emergency on local communities will continue long after this year; and
WHEREAS, three million critical municipal worker jobs are at risk, threatening cuts to basic community services, including 9-1-1 response, sanitation, and maintenance; and
WHEREAS, communities have taken extraordinary measures to protect health,
safety, and the continuation of essential services throughout the emergency; and
WHEREAS, the City of Wheat Ridge has reduced the 2020 budget by over $5 million in expenditures and is expected to lose up to $12 million in General Fund revenue in 2020; and
WHEREAS, America’s rural communities and small towns are struggling just as
much as big cities and risk being left behind or wiped out entirely.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Wheat Ridge City Council calls on Congress to allocate fair and direct federal support to all of America’s communities, regardless of population size; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this funding must be flexible and address not
only the additional expenses incurred by communities to respond to the pandemic
emergency, but also the dramatic budgetary shortfalls resulting from pauses in commerce, tourism, other economic engines; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that local governments will ensure federal funds
are immediately used to rebuild and reopen the national economy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that funding will keep middle class workers employed and critical services operating; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Wheat Ridge has been part of the
emergency response and now calls on Congress to build a united national partnership for a safe, healthy, prosperous life.
DONE AND RESOLVED this 8th day of June, 2020.
Bud Starker, Mayor
ATTEST:
Steve Kirkpatrick, City Clerk