There's more reaction to the proposed 2026 City of Windsor budget, prepared by Mayor Drew Dilkens.
It includes a 0 per cent increase in property taxes, with $317 million in capital projects focused on roads, sewers and other infrastructure.
The draft document also includes extending parking meter enforcement by two hours each night to 9 p.m., and there's $5.1-million earmarked for the Homelessness and Housing Help Hub (H4).
The mayor is also requesting an additional $500,000 from Windsor Airport bringing the annual dividend to the city to $1.5-million, and a one-time payment of $3.5-million from the Windsor-Detroit BorderLinks Corporation on top of the annual dividend of $1.5-million.
Speaking on AM800’s The Shift with guest host Kristen Siapas, Ward 3 city coun. Renaldo Agostino, said the extra money for H4 will help move the downtown core in the right direction.
"I've been very hands on over the last 12-months to understand where the money is going, who's getting it, what's working and what's not working. And rather than just saying 'hey, here's what we're doing that's working', we've really started to identify what's not and how do we fix those things," he said.
Agostino said the increased parking enforcement is not something he supports.
"I'm certainly always going to look out for the residents and business owners of downtown Windsor but I'm also very understanding that some tax base costs have to be shared amongst the community and sometimes that's what you've got to do and sometimes you've got to raise prices," Agostino said.
"I was in the business world forever and if I didn't raise my prices, you know what I would've been? Closed."
Agostino said he supports the request for increased payments from Windsor Airport and the Windsor-Detroit BorderLinks Corporation.
"I'm on the airport board and I'm also on the tunnel board and I'm happy to see there's some money being kicked back from those organizations back to the taxpayer because ultimately, the taxpayer owns those organizations so it's nice to see some dividends coming back to help support them," he said.
The proposed budget also raises Transit Windsor fares from $3.75 to $4.00 on April 1, 2026.
The city has scheduled a meeting for budget delegations on Jan. 12, 2026, beginning at 10 am.