City officials are still not sure what provincial government cuts will mean for their 2020 budget.
The provincial government announced this week municipalities would have to pay 30 percent of public health care costs and 20 percent of the cost of creating new childcare spaces.
The province will now pay for 70 percent of the cost of public health and 80 percent towards new childcare spaces.
Premier Doug Ford told municipal leaders they would provide transitional funding to help offset those costs, but no further details were provided.
City Manager Norm Gale said there are a lot of unknowns going into the 2020 budgeting process including the Thunder Bay District Social Services Board and Thunder Bay Health Unit levies to municipalities.
“This year is atypical; we have less information than we usually do. The moves by the government have given us uncertainty, more than usual and we are hoping for more information from the province,” Gale explained.
Mayor Bill Mauro said it’s nice to know that there may be funding to help offset the cuts, but they don’t know any more than that.
“It may mitigate some of the costs that we are going to be incurring based on the Premier’s confirmation of the cuts, and again you don’t know how much, you don’t know who is eligible, it’s still to be determined. We will keep an eye on it and hope for the best.”
The provincial government also announced a four percent increase to land ambulance funding. The Mayor explained the funding increase would bring their funding level back to the amount it was before a previous round of provincial government cuts.
Mauro went on to say their share of funding the Thunder Bay Health Unit represents an additional “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Mauro adds the District Social Services Board has told him they would not move forward with new childcare spaces because they can’t afford to.
