City of El Paso’s CEO details gloomy economic outlook in wake of pandemic
EL PASO, Texas -- City of El Paso Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas spoke and answered questions for about an hour on Tuesday as he led part of the City Council meeting to detail the current state of the local economy and the continued tough times ahead.
Cortinas outlined how El Paso had previously put together 34 consecutive months of positive economic growth before suffering a double-digit percentage drop due to the coronavirus pandemic setting in.
Additionally, although the final numbers are still being calculated, it is estimated that the city's budget will end up taking a hit in the tens of millions of dollars.
Transportation services have already suffered a signification downfall.
A chart detailing Sun Metro revenues showed that from September 2019 to February 2020 they enjoyed at least half-million dollars in revenue, which then plummeted down to just $47,000 by April.
Ridership is also declining, having gone from an average of 20,000 riders a day at the start of March to under 6,000 by the middle of May.
"A lot of it is unknown," said Cortinas. "We do not know how fast any of this will rebound."
