The City of Windsor is trying to fight inflationary increased costs for the price of a flood mitigation project.
On Monday afternoon, a report went forward to Windsor council and was approved regarding the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, saying that Infrastructure Canada is committed to covering 40 per cent of the project costs, however, they will only cover 40 per cent of the price estimate from 2018.
Based on the figure from 2018, that would mean a contribution amount of approximately $32.1-million, with the City of Windsor's intended share of $55.3-million, which represents the remaining 60 per cent along with ineligible expenses.
Estimates for the project for 2023 has it listed at $176-million, $86-million more than five years ago.
If the federal government does not uphold their 60/40 agreement, and only pay the 40 per cent from 2018 estimated costs, the city will be responsible for an extra $144-million.
Several projects have been completed or are currently underway such as the Climate Change Study, St. Paul Pumping Station Expansion project, or the Tranby Park Stormwater Management project.
JoAnne Gignac, ward 6 councillor, expressed her concerns with the delays as many of the projects are in her ward.
She says everything is going to be delayed from now moving forward.
"This could be a potential $80-million hit, on this one fund. So, projects that have been brought to the point where we're supposed to begin construction shortly, in the spring, will not be happening. That's going to delay everything after it."
Chris Nepszy, the city's engineer and commissioner of infrastructure services, says talks with the federal government is high on the list.
"The urgency to have those discussions with them is high on the list. And to figure out how we're going to proceed with both the timing and the costs with these projects."
Windsor mayor, Drew Dilkens, says the funding that was offered in 2018 was a perfect 60/40 per cent split for the project.
"We were very excited in 2018 when we received $32-million from the federal government because it helped unlock about $56-million on our side. And so, you've got nearly a $90-million program to undertake real extensive works, especially in the Riverside and East Riverside area, and so the funding split when it was $56-to-$32-million was a 60/40 percentage funding split."
Infrastructure Canada has granted the city a deadline extension from 2028 to 2032 to ease some pressure by sorting out funding challenges.
Even if the federal government pays the full 40 per cent of project costs for today's estimate, the city will still have to pay about $61-million more than it originally expected.
Administration is recommending to continue with the design of projects that are already underway, and put a hold on select construction tenders until a resolution to the current financial pressures is reached.
Council will also send a letter to the Federal Government, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and to local MP's to request that the federal government provide additional funding to avoid the downloading of inflation-adjusted construction costs to municipal taxpayers.