Following this, the Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer provided the following direction to City Departments and ABC's:

City Departments

"City Departments are being asked to develop a status quo budget to carry on existing service levels for the 2020 budget year. As always, you are encouraged to bring forward your recommended service enhancements and necessary related budget increases to allow for due consideration by the Corporate Leadership Team & City Council.

As a result of preliminary estimates of anticipated pressures for the upcoming year, City Departments are being asked to develop reduction options that will maintain 2019 net budget levels and also provide further reduction scenarios totaling 10% of your department's 2019 net operating funding levels. These additional reduction scenarios are required to ensure that sufficient options are available to minimize the property tax levy requirement and possibly to attempt to hold the line on property taxes."

Under the direction and guidance of their Corporate Leadership Team member, and with the support of their Executive Directors and Managers who once again strived to find reductions in their Operating Budgets, all City Departments were successful in submitting options to achieve 10% reductions in their service areas in compliance with the CFO's directive.

City Funded Agencies, Boards & Committees (ABC's)

"The City of Windsor has commenced its 2020 Budget Development Process and is asking that you provide your budget request. As in prior years, the City's administrative team has endeavoured to develop a budget, which minimizes an increase to the current tax levy requirement and as such, is requesting that your organization assist in meeting this goal.

In order to assist the City of Windsor in this effort, we ask that your 2020 budget request from the City of Windsor for the next fiscal year be for an amount no greater than your approved 2019 amount."

In the case of City Funded ABC's, all complied with administration's direction to hold the line on their budget request except for the following:

Agency, Board or Committee	$ Increase	% Increase Over Prior Year Budget
Windsor Police Services	$3,868,174	4.4%
Health Unit	$313,219	10.0%
Community Housing Corporation (Note 1)	$253,579	2.1%
Land Ambulance	$250,440	2.1%
Economic Development Corporation	$226,189	19.0%