According to W. Paul Farmer, Executive Director of the American Planning Association, the current federal budget proposal from President Bush could have very large impacts on communities, particularly in the long term. The single biggest targets for cuts and disinvestment are community development and infrastructure. Most of the major federal programs that planners use for significant community investment are cut: Community Development Block Grants (CDBG; cut by $1.2 billion), Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF; cut by $400 million), Land and Water Conservation Fund (zero funding), HOPE VI (zero funding), and transit (cut by $300 million). Transit also loses some of the guarantees it has received in previous budgets, and the EPA's Smart Growth office is targeted for major personnel cuts.

These cuts are "backloaded", meaning they gradually increase over time. For example, an analysis by CBPP shows that for community development programs, a 25 percent cut in 2009 grows to more than 30 percent by 2012 (not adjusting for inflation). Environmental programs would see an 8 percent cut this year nearly double to 15.7 percent in 2012.

Locally in Minnesota, there are concerns that planned increases in transportation funding are being negated by something most people would consider a good thing -- conservation. A recent analysis expects gas tax receipts in Minnesota to have lower-than-expected increases (with eventual decreases), primarily thanks to better fuel efficiency in most cars that are popular today.