Council considers breaks for businesses battered by COVID

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The city council will be asked on Monday to cancel or defer a number of fees and taxes, to help local businesses affected by the latest COVID-related restrictions imposed by the Ontario government.

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“I think we’re hearing enough (businesses), especially in the hospitality sector, saying, ‘We just can’t go on like this, we’re counting every dollar,'” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said Friday of the report. administration that recommends extensions of terms and forgiveness of various fees. Some businesses are so badly hit that they couldn’t pay the city now anyway, he suggested.

He said the furlough package provides “some relief specifically to those businesses that are most affected by the existing restrictions.”

Many of the breaks repeat or improve on breaks granted by the city shortly after the pandemic hit in 2020. For example, restaurants and bars, currently prohibited from hosting indoor dining, will again have break fees waived. permits for parklets (dining terraces built over street parking) and outdoor patios. The fee waiver has resulted in a large increase in the number of these open-air dining spaces in operation in central business areas. Lost revenue in 2021 totaled $13,000 in lost permit fees, $88,500 in annual lost square foot fees, and $55,500 in lost parking revenue for spaces used for parklets.

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In addition, the city is increasing the 15 minutes of free parking allowed on the city’s parking app (so customers can quickly get into restaurants for grab-and-go meals) to 60 minutes and includes surface lots. The cost is about $4,000 in lost income at the end of the year.

Another recommendation is to allow the city’s managing director to provide relief for rent and advertising fees charged to businesses that use city facilities, such as arenas that are currently closed.

“It just keeps the cash in the pocket of the business,” the mayor said.

The city normally collects about $850,000 from advertising and sponsorships and about $2.2 million in rentals, but how much of this will be lost depends on how many businesses apply and how many qualify.

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The report also recommends extending the business license renewal deadline from February 28 to June 30 for businesses battered by COVID in the hospitality industry.

“So restaurants, bars, public rooms, entertainment rooms, places that are effectively closed to customers right now, instead of having to pay us a few hundred dollars by the end of February, we’ll give you several more months before they expire. fees, Dilkens said. The cost of this will be nominal, according to the report.

The city is also proposing to allow small businesses to defer February property tax payments, which would cost about $323,000 in lost investment returns if all eligible businesses took advantage of it. Companies would be required to offset deferred payments in subsequent payments later in the year.

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Much of this lost revenue is accounted for in the $25 million COVID shortfall projected for 2022. City officials expect the shortfall will end up being funded by the provincial and federal governments.

Dilkens said the city consulted with the Windsor Essex Pelee Island Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce and Tourism on how to help local businesses get around recently announced restrictions.

He said if the situation remains bad for businesses several months from now, when these deferred fees and taxes expire, the council may need to consider further extensions or even scrap them altogether by 2022.

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