Giant financial hole for City of Winnipeg partially filled by federal government: year-end report

A bandage made of cash from the federal governmentstemmed the City of Winnipeg'sfinancialbleedingin 2020, according to the city's year-end fiscal report.

The city recorded a drop in revenue of $96 million from the year before, according to the report, which was released this week.

The majority of those losses came fromdramatic drops in Winnipeg Transit ridership and revenue from parking fees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The impact meant a shortfall of $52 million on an annual operating budget of approximately $1.7 billion, according to the report.

A grant of $74.5 million from the federal Safe Restart Agreement allowed the city to avoid tapping into its fiscal stabilization fund. In fact, it helped the municipality sock away an extra $2.5 million into its reserve.

The fund's balance at the end of 2020 was $119.9 million.

The city recorded significant expenses in 2020 due to a $37-million refund for impact fees,after acourt decision last summer that quashed the collection of the fees from developers andhomebuyers in new Winnipeg suburbs.

However, the city saw costs for snow clearing drop $14 million.

A number of measures were put in place last year to help the city weather the financial storm from the pandemic. Those included temporary layoffs of some city staff, a hiring freeze and a freeze on senior management salaries, as well as using debt instead of cash for some projects.

Despite the uncertain financial times, the city saw revenue increase from property taxes by $15 million, mostly due to higher assessments of the value of homes.

The city's year-end financial report is set to be presented at a meeting of council's executive policy committee next Tuesday.