and that these guidelines be drafted IN CONSULTATION with all the BIA’s across the City of Windsor as well as the WBIAC advisory committee; and,

That Administration UNDERTAKE a review of other BIA’s and best practices across Ontario; and further,

That Administration BE DIRECTED to develop for Council’s consideration and approval, a more robust budget template for all BIA’s so that Council has a clear understanding of BIA budgets and expenditures that are in a more transparent manner.”

On November 26, 2019, Administration attended the meeting of the Windsor Business Improvement Area Advisory Committee (WBIAAC). At that meeting, financial reporting responsibilities and budget development matters were discussed. A revised budget template, which serves to provide an opportunity to identify expenditures in a more clear yet consistent basis as well as to incorporate a variance analysis component, has been put into use for the development of the 2020 budget submissions. All nine BIA’s were asked to use the new budget and variance reporting template for the 2019 submissions. For the most part, the templates were completed in full however there were some instances where additional information and training will be required in order to meet the intended goals and objectives. Administration will continue to work with the BIA’s to ensure that there is a complete understanding of the budget and variance reporting process.

2020 Budget Submissions

The 2020 BIA budgets, which are provided in full in the attached Appendices A through I, include identified expenses which are consistent with the mandate of BIA’s such as advertising and promotion, newsletters, beautification items, flower baskets, administrative costs, etc. The budgets were materially submitted to Administration in the requested format and by the determined deadline. Administration has performed a review of each budget to ensure consistency with the prior year and clarify any items that considered to be new. Administration also ensured that any previously committed amounts as repayments to the City for capital projects were included in the annual budgets. The Act requires that each BIA budget be discussed and approved at a general meeting in which all members of the BIA are invited to attend. Administration confirms that these meetings have taken place and also reviews the minutes of the meeting for any discussion with regards to the budgeted expenditures.

The following summarizes the budgeted expenditures and resulting levy as submitted by each of the BIA’s.

Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Area (DWBIA) – Appendix A

The requested total budget is for $688,250, which is an increase of $45,078 from 2019. The related levy, which will come from BIA members, is $667,550 an increase from 2019 of $24,378.