City hires consultant to help with projected revenue shortfall

Columbus City Hall exterior is shown in this Republic file photo. Mike Wolanin | The Republic

While nobody knows how steep it will be, the city of Columbus could face a revenue shortfall as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Governments across the country are already feeling some negative impact from the pandemic with reduced revenues, said Jaime Brinegar, director of finance, operations and risk for the city of Columbus.

The immediate negative impact stems from lower revenue raised through the state’s fuel tax, Brinegar said. In 2017, Hoosiers began paying an extra 10 cents per gallon to raise an estimated $1.2 billion per year toward road upkeep and construction.

“Gas prices are down substantially, but not very many people are driving,” Brinegar told the Columbus Board of Works and Public Safety on Tuesday.

Since local income tax revenues are guaranteed for the rest of 2020, the most significant revenue reductions won’t be felt until next year, he said.

But there’s a good chance that funding reductions in local income tax, as well as from property taxes revenues, will take place “next year, as well as in the years beyond,” Brinegar said.

In order to help the city anticipate what’s ahead, the board of works unanimously agreed Tuesday to hire a financial consultant at Brinegar’s request. The board hired Andrew Lanam, director of public finance with the Indianapolis office of Stifel Financial Corp.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.