Foreclosures becoming cities' 'nightmare'

WASHINGTON, March 11 (UPI) -- The mortgage foreclosure crisis is taking a toll on U.S. cities, causing a drop in tax revenues, a spike in crime and more homelessness, a survey said.

The National League of Cities survey of elected local officials indicated foreclosures are squeezing city coffers as officials try to cope with increased crime, homelessness and vacant property, USA Today reported Tuesday.

"There's a reduction in revenues at the same time that more services are needed," says Cynthia McCollum, league president and Madison, Ala., council member. "Because of foreclosures, people are stealing, crime is on the rise and we don't have more money for cops on the street."

About two-thirds of 211 officials surveyed reported a rise in foreclosures during the past year. A third of the cities experienced a drop in revenues, and an increase in abandoned and vacant properties and urban blight, the survey reported. More than a fifth of respondents said homelessness and the need for temporary and emergency housing rose last year.

"The American dream for individuals has now become the nightmare for cities," said James Mitchell, a Charlotte, N.C., council member and head of the league's National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.