A year after rapidly cutting expenses and staffing as a worldwide pandemic rocked its economy, the city of Napa expects to bolster services and fill dozens of vacant positions on the shoulders of nine-figure revenue in the new fiscal year â and with a large assist from the federal government.
The 2021-22 budget approved by the City Council this week projects Napa will see $101.3 million flow into its general fund, from which it pays day-to-day expenses, against $99.7 million in expenses. That revenue figure represents a nearly $10 million jump from its revenue for the 2020-21 year, which began last July with the coronavirus triggering sweeping business shutdowns, halting travel, and emptying out the hotels that had become a crucial tax revenue source.
Even after the U.S. beats back the novel coronavirus, economic damage wreaked by the historic pandemic may continue to depress city revenues in Napa, and force hard decisions about spending and staffing over the next few years.
Such was the sobering financial forecast officials shared with the City Council on Tuesday in a report predicting Napa may not reach its pre-COVID-19 levels of revenue and business activity until mid-decade, as a fitful vaccine roll-out and anxiety about travel safety slow the path to refilling the hotels and restaurants that until recently supplied nearly a quarter of the local budget.