In 2019, due to lower than anticipated mandated subsidy payments required by service providers, a transfer of $1,040,000 was made to the City Housing reserve from the 2019 year end surpluses in the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation (WECHC) and Housing Services department.
Non-Tax Supported Variances
Building Permit Operations
| 2019 BudgetedDraw on BuildingPermit FeeReserve | Actual Contribution toReserve in 2019 | 2019 Actual Year-EndSurplus |
|---|---|---|
| ($807,388) | $805,845 | $1,612,873 |
Key Highlights:
- Construction statistics as of December 31, 2019 (3,391 permits) are below that of 2018 (4,501 permits)
- In 2018, the permit counts were largely concentrated in renovations and new housing starts and particularly remediation work from a flooding event in late 2017. These types of permits generate lower permit revenues compared to permits for new construction of the larger industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) type projects.
- The (ICI) categories traditionally represent a large portion of the permit based revenue for the Corporation.
- For 2019, the permit counts in residential (2,904) and ICI (487) were below that of 2018 (3,902 residential) and (599 commercial), however, total construction value associated with 2019 projects in both categories were 50% higher than that of 2018.
- A major contributor to the residential total was the multi dwelling (apartment building) approvals issued in 2019 and a spike in new single family dwellings (233 in 2019 vs 134 in 2018).
- Mitigating efforts are continually being implemented by the Building Department to help reduce and control any draw against the Building Permit Fee Reserve each year. Those efforts include staffing adjustments in sync with economic cycles, frugal management of all controllable operating costs, seeking increased