Province comes up with $5.4 million to get us through the 2020 budget

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

December 18th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

In the municipal world, a deficit is not permitted.

When revenues do not cover all the expenses then treasurer people have to draw down funds from a reserve account.

Burlington, like every other municipality in the province, has dozens of reserve accounts.

The 2021 Operating budget that is being put together (it will go to Council in January) did not look all that good – a higher than the 2% tax rate the public finds they can live with looked as if it was going to rise – 4% was possible unless spending was cut drastically or if there was an infusion of cash from higher levels of government.

Burlington was advised this week that it would get more financial relief from the Province during COVID-19.

Mayor Meed Ward and Premier - Dec 2018

Premier Ford meets Mayor Meed Ward – smiles all around.

The province announced yesterday they are allocating an additional $695 million to provide financial relief for municipalities and help ensure they do not carry operating deficits into 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Burlington is one of 48 (out of 444 municipalities) to receive the “full” phase 2 funding allocation. The City is receiving an additional 2020 operating funding of $5.4 million, plus $1.9 million to help with 2021 COVID-related operating pressures.

This funding is in addition to $2.2 million in transit-related money provided to help with local transit pressures, which was also secured through the City’s phase 2 application through the Safe Restart program.

These funds build upon the first phase of the federal-provincial Safe Restart Funding Agreement announced this summer and will help municipalities deliver critical services during COVID-19.

The federal-provincial Safe Restart Funding Agreement is a historic partnership that secured up to $4 billion in emergency funding for Ontario’s municipalities to help them on the road to a safe recovery during the pandemic.

Audit Tim 1 more vocal

Tim Commisso, City Manager

“… great news for our City”, said the Mayor, who added that “the Province listened to us. This additional funding will help us as we enter a difficult 2021 budget to maintain and enhance the services our residents expect, while keeping it affordable.

Tim Commisso, City Manager pointed out that “… we still have a challenging 2021 operating budget forthcoming in January, this funding is a huge relief for the city as we continue to deal with the financial impacts of this pandemic.”

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1 comment to Province comes up with $5.4 million to get us through the 2020 budget

  • Phillip Wooster

    You stated that the public can live with a 2% increase in municipal taxes. Where did you get this from? After a year in which those employed in the private sector and businesses have seen significant reductions in their incomes, how do you decide a 2% increase can be acceptable? The mantra of governments is “we’re all in this together” but that’s not true. Public sector workers have felt no financial pain. Why are the Mayor and councillors not going to their employees and departments and saying “we have to do more with less”? No, that would be a tough decision, but the right one; it’s just easier to say “we raising taxes”, knowing that the sheep will not object. And it might be politically saleable–after all, this City with its penchant for social engineering and virtue-signalling spending will seem almost reasonable after jacking up taxes by 7% in the past two years–ALMOST!