NC Local Government Early Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Do you remember what you thought about COVID-19 during “the early days?”

Between April 29 and May 28, 2020, the ncIMPACT Initiative sent a nonrepresentative sample survey to local government officials in North Carolina in an effort to assess how they viewed their early COVID-19 world – and the actions they were taking to respond.

This survey came at a tough time for local governments. Many were overwhelmed with the disruptions of the pandemic. You can find the report here. Please note we intend to repeat the survey in October 2020.

My colleagues and I had several questions guiding our development of the survey:

What do local government leaders expect of the impact of COVID-19?
When do local government leaders expect to see a recovery for their community vs the local government itself?
What are local government leaders’ primary concerns for negative impacts of COVID-19?
Do local government leaders see positive impacts from COVID-19?
Does the amount of existing economic distress affect the level and types of concerns expressed by local governments for their organizations and communities?
Does geography/region of the state affect the level and types of concerns expressed by local governments for their organizations and communities?
Do elected officials and professional staff see the impacts of the pandemic differently?

Our response rate was 7 percent. Here is an overview of the findings based on the responses received.