Will a government shutdown stop your mail deliveries? How Charlotte will be impacted

A potential federal shutdown is looming ahead of the deadline for Congress to agree on legislation for government funding.

The budget must be passed by Saturday, Oct 1, to keep the government running. Otherwise, there will be a shutdown, which could impact people nationwide, including Charlotte.

“Make no mistake, a government shutdown would hurt our economy, it would risk our national security, and it would be a disaster for North Carolina’s working families,” Rep. Wiley Nickel of Cary said during a news conference Friday. “Hundreds of thousands of people, including our congressional staff, would be put on temporary leave without pay or be forced to work without pay.”

RELATED: No budget, no pay: NC congressman wants to halt colleagues’ pay in future standoffs

When would a government shutdown begin?

If a government funding plan is not passed and signed into law by Oct 1, a shutdown will take effect at 12:01 a.m. and could last weeks, if not longer, the Associated Press reported.

But local experts say a shutdown would likely gradually affect most people instead of an immediate impact, especially those living in Charlotte.

“If you’re an employee of the federal government or you’re working with an agency that gets contracts with the federal government, there could be a direct and immediate impact in that money is no longer flowing,” Eric Heberlig, professor of political science at UNC Charlotte, told The Charlotte Observer.

“For the average citizen, most of their government services are coming through the city of Charlotte or, perhaps, the state of North Carolina, which eventually could be indirect effects if those governments aren’t getting their funding from the federal government. But in the short term, most people aren’t going to see an impact.”

What a government shutdown would mean for Charlotte

During a shutdown, federal agencies have to stop all nonessential work and will not send paychecks.

“They don’t have the money to pay their staff. That means they don’t have the money to run their programs, so things temporarily shut down until Congress passes legal authorization for them to spend money,” Heberlig explained. “It’s only certain functions of the government that are actually going to shut down.”

Until Congress agrees on government funding, federal employees will be furloughed, national parks will be closed, and some federal offices will have to close or reduce hours.

This could delay small business loan applications and passport updates and hinder other federal services through programs impacted by the budget, Heberlig said.

However, a shutdown would not affect United States Postal Service deliveries, Social Security benefits, Medicare, and Medicaid.

“There are several different types of effects. The most direct effect is if you are depending on some type of federal service that’s through a program that is affected by the budget that’s not passed,” Heberlig explained. “For the average person who doesn’t get a check or a service directly from the federal government regularly. The effect is going to be the broader effects on the economy if this lasts for a while.”

On the local level, Mecklenburg County officials do not anticipate a federal government shutdown would immediately impact their programs and services.

“While many local programs and services receive federal funding and grants, much of that funding is already in place for this budget year,” Alex Burnett, a public information officer for the county, told The Observer. “There could potentially be a delay in reimbursement from federal grants, but that would not directly affect services.”

For Charlotte, most services and operations are not directly connected to federal funding, so city officials aren’t expecting an impact on those either.

“If city services are affected, the city will assess the impact and available resources and operate under the established Federal contingency plans as well as other strategies that may be implemented based on the community needs,” Lawrence Corley III, the city’s media relations manager, said.

According to Corley, some local activities with city government connections will continue operating, including airport services from TSA screeners and Customs, air traffic controllers, and Border Protection agents. Housing grant programs would also continue until funding runs out.

“For most of us, all our ordinarily everyday activities are going to be able to continue as they normally do,” Heberlig said. “The local libraries will still be open, your trash will still be picked up, and the local police will still be able to respond to calls. Those are all local government functions that may get some downstream financial support from the federal government, but they’re not dependent on a check every day from the federal government.”