Windsor's mayor is expressing disappointment the provincial or federal governments still have not figured out how they will help municipalities facing massive shortfalls because of the pandemic.
Drew Dilkens is confident the federal and provincial governments will come through, but it can't come soon enough.
"What they're doing is dithering right now. There's a Constitutional tussle back and forth about who should pay what. What we're saying get into the room and figure it out," he told BlackburnNews.com.
A report going to Windsor City Council Monday morning said the city is facing a $29.7-million shortfall by the end of the year because of the pandemic. The city's revenues are expected to fall by $36.6-million, and costs have risen $15.4-million. Windsor was able to find over $17-million in cost savings.
"We can only offset this deficit with help from the provincial and federal governments," said Dilkens. "As municipalities, we're incurring all sorts of expenditures, yet there is no additional revenue coming in. In fact, revenue streams are drying up."
Under the Municipal Act, municipalities are not allowed to carry a deficit. The only way cities and towns can fill the gap themselves is to raise taxes or cut services. Dilkens says raising taxes is not an option.
"You can't collect that amount from the property tax base. It's just impossible. If we were trying to find $30-million and put it on the property tax base, it would be like a 7.5 per cent tax increase," he explained. "It would be intolerable."
Ottawa has set aside $14-billion to help out municipalities, but Premier Doug Ford says that with 38 per cent of the national population, Ontario should get at least that much of the pie.
"We need them to get into the room, put their heads together and don't come out until they have a formula that makes sense," Dilkens said.
Ford has asked mayors to advocate with the federal government to provide more funding for the province.