The Municipality of Chatham-Kent should be in decent financial shape heading into the new year.
Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire said the municipality was already expecting to end the calendar year with a surplus and now, it is also receiving $1,165,000 from upper levels of government in an effort to ensure that an operating deficit isn't carried over into 2021.
The provincial government announced a $695 million investment on Wednesday to support municipalities in Ontario through the Safe Restart Agreement. The joint funding from the provincial and federal governments is in addition to a previous funding announcement made during the summer.
Shropshire said that previous funding along with some cost-cutting measures that were made during the pandemic had already set up the municipality well to end the year.
"We reported to council as part of our October variance that we believe we are actually going to have about a $1-million surplus from monies received from the provincial government offsetting the additional costs that we had and the loss of revenue that we had from all of 2020," said Shropshire, adding that council has already approved for the surplus to be set aside in reserves for future COVID-19 related costs.
He said municipal officials are still sorting through the details associated with the latest funding announcement that was made this week. A full report on that funding announcement and the local impact is expected to go to Chatham-Kent council in the new year.
"This joint funding will help Ontario's municipalities recover from the impacts of COVID-19 faster, by helping them to enter into 2021 without operating deficits from this year," said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. "By ensuring our municipal partners are in a sound financial position to begin the new year, they can focus on keeping their capital projects on track while continuing to provide the critical services their residents rely on."
Of the $695 million announced on Wednesday, $299 million is being allocated to Ontario's 444 municipalities, with an additional $396 million to go to the 48 municipalities that have been hardest hit by COVID-19.
“A well-maintained balanced budget going into 2021 will give the municipality the confidence to proceed with the critical projects needed to drive economic growth due to lost revenue from COVID-19, which will result in lessening the burden on taxpayers,” said MPP Rick Nicholls.
