Local governments remain hesitant to hire after cutting jobs from mid-2008 through March 2013, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Since then, local governments, which employ about 14 million people, have added 57,000 workers.
“Property values are rebounding to a degree and fairly robustly in some locations, but the effect of that on the fiscal circumstances in many cities is not as salutary as we would like,” said Steven Kreisberg, the director of collective bargaining for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents more than 1.6 million government workers and retirees.
Since March 2013, property values have risen by more than 10 percent each month from a year before, according the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 U.S. cities.
Nevada’s Clark County has a backlog of projects awaiting funding, said Commissioner Steve Sisolak. The county’s property- tax collections during the year beginning in July are forecast to rise for the first time since 2009, though gains will be limited by state caps on how much they can increase.
“The county’s turning a corner,” Sisolak said. “You fall off a cliff fairly quickly, and it takes you a while to climb back out.”