Windsor forecasts $ 25 million in COVID-related expenses in 2022

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The City of Windsor projects $ 25 million in COVID-related costs by 2022 that, without help from the feds or the province, could add five percentage points to tax bills.

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Coupled with the 1.99 percent increase already proposed for the 2022 budget, that would bring the total tax increase to a whopping seven percent, city officials warned Friday.

“That’s scary isn’t it?” Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis said about the potential impact on taxpayers. The uncertainty about who will pay for COVID-related costs in 2022, he argues, makes it “wildly irresponsible to increase taxes unnecessarily.”

It refers to criticism from some progressive councilors that the administration and Mayor Drew Dilkens defend the proposed 2022 budget actually amounts to cuts in services when you factor in a 4.4 percent inflation rate. They also argue that it falls short on several “quality of life” fronts, particularly when it comes to improving traffic.

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Francis would prefer a freeze, but acknowledges that he is a minority on the council. Yet with the $ 25 million COVID-related spending on the heads of taxpayers, he insisted on Friday that even $ 1 more than the proposed 1.99 percent increase would be unacceptable.

Top-tier governments could end up paying all of Windsor’s costs, none of them, or something in between, he said.

“We are literally going to get into our budget in less than a week and a half and we still don’t have any confirmation of any kind,” he said. “This is one of the main economic uncertainties heading into the December 13. budget session.”

But Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin called the warnings about the looming $ 25 million shortfall a red herring because top-tier governments will almost certainly end up covering it, and if they don’t, they could pretty easily cover themselves with debt. On Friday, The Star reported that the city’s debt reduction strategy has been so successful since debt peaked at $ 230 million in 2003 that by 2022 taxpayer-backed debt will drop to zero.

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“This unfunded $ 25 million increase that we are seeing, they are using it to generate fear and they are using it as this three headed monster that will come after you. It doesn’t mean anything, ”Bortolin said.

The mayor was not available for an interview on Friday, but in a statement called on the feds and the province to give Windsor the opportunity to apply for the kind of financial aid that was previously provided during the pandemic.

“The costs associated with managing the healthcare crisis should not be borne by the property taxpayer alone,” Dilkens said.

The city’s significant COVID costs projected for 2022 include:

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Top-tier governments provided bailouts in 2020 and 2021 that largely covered Windsor’s COVID-related budget deficits, though there is still a $ 3 million shortfall in 2021, City Treasurer Joe Mancina said. At this point, there have been no commitments from the federal or provincial government for 2022, except for some funding for the homeless and housing that runs through the end of March.

“We are eagerly awaiting any kind of announcements from the highest levels of government to address this $ 25 million shortfall, and this does not even include losses directly at the tunnel and the airport,” Mancina said, referring to the ongoing tunnel and airport. losses (currently running at $ 10.5 million) that may ultimately end up requiring the city to step in to help with future capital projects.

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Mancina confirmed that if taxpayers took on the $ 25 million in COVID-related costs, next year’s tax increase could reach seven percent.

“This year is particularly more challenging because you have recreational facilities that are open, you have your transit services running, you have staff at these locations, you have improved cleanliness, and it really comes down to income levels and passenger numbers and passenger numbers. participation levels are lower, ”he said.

“That makes it even more challenging to develop and devise mitigation strategies to offset those losses.”

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