The city of Shreveport is losing substantial sales taxes revenues as a result of the COVID-19 virus.

Businesses have shut down and those that are open have less volume of sales. Many who have lost their jobs have less money to spend. Casino sales tax revenues have evaporated.

So when the world comes back to "normal" it will be a new normal for Shreveport residents, businesses, and organizations. That will include the programs and services provided by the city of Shreveport.

Shreveport has 63 parks maintained by SPAR. Many of these will need to be closed due to low volume of utilization and the $2.5 million in personnel costs to maintain.

The hard questions will be which parks and what to do with the land when the parks are closed.

Currently SPAR parks are closed for general public use. But the grass still grows and it will continue to do so if the park is permanently closed and abandoned by the city.

The city's support of festivals and organizational events will also be subject to review which includes utilization of Festival Plaza. Any reduction will affect many nonprofit organizations that conduct events and festivals, and thus the people served by these groups.

More hard questions with no easy answers. Expect Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins and the Shreveport city council to confront these issues this summer.