Windsor's mayor has joined others across Ontario in urging the provincial government to approve funding to help municipalities weather the COVID-19 storm.
Drew Dilkens participated Friday in a virtual discussion on the upcoming Ontario budget. The talk was led by Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy.
In prepared remarks, a copy of which was provided to WindsorNewsToday.ca, Dilkens called attention to the fact that Windsor, like other major cities, faced decreased revenue and increased expenses thanks to the pandemic.
"For 2022, we estimate about $25-million more will need to be spent, above and beyond our proposed budget, to meet the needs of our community, as we recover from the impacts of COVID-19," said Dilkens. "That means that we started our fiscal year in January of this year with a $25-million anvil hanging over our heads."
The City of Windsor lucked out with a mild property tax increase of 1.86 per cent, when the 2022 municipal budget was approved in December. But Dilkens cautioned that with the current pandemic impacts factored in, it could mean future service cuts or much higher tax increases.
"We kept that out of our property tax base because we simply couldn’t afford to burden our property tax base with these impacts," said Dilkens. "This amount is material and would equate to a 6.5 per cent increase in municipal taxes just to offset the COVID-19 related deficit."
Dilkens also discussed the impact that travel restrictions have had on the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel and Windsor Airport, which are both owned by the City.
"The impact on these two Government Business Enterprises (GBEs) has been dramatic and significant," said Dilkens. "Whereas pre-pandemic the City of Windsor was able to rely on these GBE’s to provide a dividend to the municipal treasury, we are now floating each organization with a line of credit to ensure their positive cash flow situations. While the restrictions that have impacted these businesses have been necessary, they are, at the same time, financially crippling."
The mayor called on the provincial government to renew the Safe Restart Framework Agreement with the federal government, to help municipalities meet the added crunch.
Ontarians are invited to provide their input during budget consultations, which end on February 11. The 2022 budget is expected to be released in early April.