As a resource for municipalities and school districts, the MuniBlog has explored evolving issues including changes in technology, finance, and recovering from natural disasters. These issues have confronted municipalities in New York, throughout the country and throughout the world. Here is our forecast of issues that municipalities may face in 2020.
Ride sharing and mass transit
- Exploring Uber, Lyft, scooters, Citibike and Lime to ease congestion and reduce emissions
Transit oriented development/affordable housing
- This includes housing that attracts or retains recent college graduates and young families
Protecting municipal finance
Addressing pensions
Supplementing sales tax in New York state, such as a possible streaming tax on Internet use; Chicago’s “cloud tax” on Netflix was upheld as constitutional
Implementing technology such as drones to study vacant storefronts and traffic patterns, as a step toward reducing emissions
Reducing some infrastructure demands
- Undertaking efforts to reduce emissions, such as solar panels; Los Angeles uses reflective covers on roads and buildings
- Rewiring electrical grids to improve traffic signal wait times
- Putting technology to work – while maintaining the public trust
Improving traffic signal wait times
- Identifying areas prone to accidents and other issues to making informed crime predictions
- Becoming smart cities through surveillance: “Why is my municipality following me?”
- Cities must weigh legal and ethical considerations in maintaining public data, while also ensuring robust cybersecurity to prevent hacking and cybercrime.
These are all topics we expect to explore on the Muniblog throughout the year.
December 18, 2019
by David Rothman
Harris Beach PLLC