The COVID-19 pandemic has cost the city an estimated $5.2-million so far according to a report to City Council.
They will discuss it at tonight’s meeting at City Hall.
It goes over the impacts of the pandemic and the measures the city has taken so far, like waiving parking fees and transit fares.
By the end of May, the city expects it will have lost $1.1-million in Transit revenues, and expects to lose out on another $400,000 each month.
The biggest chunk out of the city’s budget is $4.6-million in lost revenues, which is expected to continue at a rate of $1.8-million per month.
At-large Councillor Rebecca Johnson says it isn’t a surprise to her, but says they are in “serious trouble” financially.
She says the city could consider delaying projects like the turf facility to avoid raising taxes for next year.
“The people that I know that are now in the food line, that are out of work, that know how they’re even going to manage tomorrow, cannot afford more taxes this year,” Johnson argues.
Johnson doesn’t believe they should count on the federal or provincial governments to bail the city out.
“There’s no way that they can provide us with […] getting back from what we have lost, that’s not going to happen. So we are going to be in a negative variance, and we’ve got to figure this out,” she says.
The at-large Councillor adds this is a scary situation and is impacting communities around the world.
