Thunder Bay city council to examine impact of COVID-19 on budget

The numbers may look large, but the impact of COVID-19 on the Thunder Bay city budget will actually be minimal.

Council will learn on Monday night that the city has spent $5 million more than it budgeted for because of the pandemic. The good news is, that virtually all additional costs are being covered by federal and provincial funding.

The additional funds mean the city will not have to dig deep into reserve funds to cover budget issues. In fact, the city will carry over $2.8 million of federal and provincial funds to be used to cover COVID-19related shortages.

The report noted less revenue coming in from transit, to the tune of about $3.3 million, there is $1.7 million less in casino revenues, and about $1 million less from municipal childcare, the municipal accommodation tax, as well as parking revenue and fine payments from provincial offences court.

The report said the city is also saving money, as there are jobs not being filled.

Those savings are offset by doing more cleaning and purchasing cleaning supplies, as well as having to spend about one million dollars more for operations at its long term care home.

The figures quoted by administration assume some services, still under review, will remain closed until the end of the year.

Those include the Fort William Gardens and Volunteer Pool, which are slated to remain closed until at least early 2021. Staff at the Gardens are still working, as employees are needed to maintain the facilities, as well as the ice plant that feeds the Fort William Curling Club.

The skating rink at Prince Arthur's Landing is also under review, with no decision made if the rink will open for the skating season.

Other items

Council is slated to approve an extra $500,000 to the budget for repairs to the Marina Park pedestrian overpass.

The corrosion on the structure, which was taken down earlier this year, is worse than anticipated. The additional cost will allow for the repair of structural components to the steel walkway, which connects the park to the downtown north core.

Council will also hear from the Friends of Chippewa Park, who want the city to contribute $300,000 towarda building to house the historic carousel.The Friends wantcouncil to consider the request as part of its 2021 budget.

As well, the recreation division will maintain the same number of outdoor skating rinks as last year.

Five rinks have fewer skaters than the city's target, but there may be a higher demand for winter recreation this year because of COVID-19. The city anticipates the rinks with low usage would not meet other criteria for removal at this point.

The climate adaptation report will also be presented to council and will highlight how climate change impacts city operations.

For example, the number of bypass events at the wastewater treatment plant are counted, of which there were 4 in 2019.

Those bypasses were all during heavy rainfallsand the city noted the effluent was not properly treated during that time.

All of the effluent was partially treated, the city said, before being discharged to the Kaministiquia River.