While failing to reach a deal to avoid the  “fiscal cliff” by the end of this year will result in higher taxes for everyone and cuts to many government branches, one of the biggest fallouts nationally will resonate here on the First Coast as well.

Approximately $500 billion in defense cuts to take place over the next 10 years will be triggered is a deal isn’t reached- that’s in addition to the roughly $400 billion already scheduled to take place.

Those are cuts that both sides of the aisle have called devastating, and Northeast Florida stands in the crosshairs.

“It’s gunna devastate not only our military, but it’s gunna have a tremendous economic impact on the businesses who do business with the military itself,” says Republican Congressman Ander Crenshaw.

He says Northeast Florida would be hurt “very badly” by the cuts, because there is such a big reliance between the area and the military bases.

“It shouldn’t happen, and I hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does it’s gunna be very serious,” he says.

Crenshaw remains hopeful that there will be a deal, but concerned given how close we are to the deadline and how much still needs to be resolved.

“Nobody wants to see all the terrible things that will happen if we don’t come to some sort of reasonable compromise by the end of the year,” he says.

He says if House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama strike a deal by the end of this week, it will still give legislators enough time to work out the details and pass the deal in time.

“If this week goes by without any resolution, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he tells WOKV.

For conservatives to really come to the table, Crenshaw says the President needs to talk spending cuts and not just tax rates.