County governments in New York could face an economic hit of $350 million to $1 billion in lost revenue as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a report released Wednesday from the New York State Association of Counties found. 

The report comes a day after Comptroller Tom DiNapoli in a revenue report found the pandemic will lead to a revenue loss of between $4 billion and $7 billion. 

In addition to property taxes, county governments rely on sales tax revenue. 

“These revenue forecasts are very troubling for local governments and property taxpayers,” said NYSAC President Jack Marren.

“Local taxpayers will face challenges on four separate fronts at a time when we are fighting the coronavirus outbreak. The first will be an increased demand for health and human services during a recession, the second is a loss in critical local sales tax revenues we use to fund state and local services delivered in our community, the third will come in the form of looming cuts from the state budget, and the fourth will be further reductions in local quality of life services.”

The report reveiwed two scenarios: One is a mild recession that leads to the $350 million revenue loss. The second is a $1 billion hit in a more severe downturn. 

It does not take into consideration the costs of responding to the pandemic or for the local workforced related revenue losses.