Nearly half of the more than 100 respondents to the survey (47%) indicated that infrastructure and transportation are the most pressing financial needs for municipalities compared to pensions (32%), education (13%), and healthcare (8%).

"Given the severity of the recession, it is clear that an additional funding source is necessary to maintain, let alone upgrade, our nation's infrastructure," Chris Hamel, head of U.S. Municipal Finance at RBC, said in a statement.

Almost half of the survey's respondents do not expect state and local government revenues to rebound to pre-recession levels for at least another five years, compared to 29% who anticipate that such a recovery will take four years and 22% who think that it will happen in three years.

In addition, nearly half of the respondents expect federal assistance for state and local governments to decrease over the next three years. Another 27% anticipate that there will not be any changes in the level of federal assistance, while 24% expect an increase.

Notwithstanding the current revenue challenges, respondents do not expect a jump in municipal bond defaults over the coming year.

"While state and local governments have seen steep declines in revenues, the risk of defaults on bonds issued by these municipalities generally remains well below similarly rated corporate debt," Chris Munro, director of Municipal Bond Research at RBC, said in a statement.