Capital Interest Income: ($425,000)

A year-end deficit of ($425,000) is being projected largely due to declining interest rates resulting from the Bank of Canada’s response to the economic fallout of COVID-19.

Property Tax Relief: ($263,000)

As a result of an application submitted by a property owner, property tax relief in an amount estimated to be approximately ($263,000) will be expensed in 2020. This expense is directly related to the reconfiguration of a hotel into an accommodation facility for hospital staff, a direct result of actions taken in response to COVID-19. This expense, is considered to be one-time in nature and is in addition to what would normally be provided in a given year as a result of municipal property tax relief programs. Funding for this expense will need to come from either the Tax Appeal Reserve or a direct reduction in supplemental tax revenue that would otherwise be available to support regular ongoing 2020 municipal operations.

Bad Debt Expense: ($200,000)

A deficit of $200,000 is projected as a result of an increased provision for doubtful customer accounts which have balances owing to the City and may not be collected in full. These amounts are owing from customers who have contracted with the city for services however due to the impact of COVID-19 are unable to pay the balance owing. These balances are unsecured in that the amounts cannot be added to property taxes. While collection activity will be pursued, the amounts will be included in the annual provision for doubtful accounts. Any recovery of an amount will be recognized as revenue in the year that it is received.

Workforce Management Project (WFM): ($150,000)

Due to COVID-19 the Workforce Management System (WFM) was not able to adhere to the planned go-live schedule for 2020. In 2020, work effort by project resources had to be redirected to assist with the pay implications of COVID-19 such as, Pandemic pay for essential workers and a modified go-live plan. It should be noted that the current estimate does not include any future phases of pandemic pay which may lead to additional efforts from the project team resulting in an increased deficit. The project team was limited by social distancing restrictions to provide system training to employees that required in-person training sessions. Approximately 400 employees were added in 2020 when the City of Windsor moved to stage 3 of the pandemic. Therefore, the one-time dollars previously approved for the project are still required to continue the implementation of the WFM system in a phased-in approach for the remaining groups. The variance of ($150,000) represents the deficit in funding resulting from the redirection of the project team's efforts related to COVID-19.

Waiver of Fees: ($65,000)

In 2012, Council approved a new Waiver of Fees policy to provide a consistent and systematic approach in assessing requests for waiving fees for the various services that the City offers. In addition to approving the policy, Council also approved the recommendation that a corporate account be established to track all costs related to the waiver of fees. Fees approved to date this year amounts to $65,000 consisting of $47,000 for Habitat for Humanity and $18,000 for the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF). No specific operating budget allocation has been approved related to the Waiver of Fees policy.

Corporate Travel, Training & Conference Savings: $500,000

In light of the current pandemic, a majority of training and conference opportunities have been cancelled in an effort to minimize the spread of the virus. As a result, savings in travel, training and conference accounts have been realized corporate wide.