A member of city council believes overspending and a lack of transparency are what led to a projected 12.9 percent tax increase in Windsor's 2025 budget.
Ward 1 councillor Fred Francis is concerned with the whole process that's led up to this point, and that council is just learning about the actual figures the city is facing and being called upon now to find savings and reductions.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens announced Tuesday that the 2025 preliminary budget estimates, without reductions, would result in a tax increase of 12.9 percent, citing extraordinary operating budget pressures driven primarily by factors outside of the corporation's control, including contractual obligations, legislated requirements, and inflationary pressures.
Dilkens has appointed the ten members of council to three different committees to examine particular areas of city operations in the search for savings, before making spending recommendations for the budget.
Francis says in 2022 there was a council budget committee, but in 2023 they were told it wasn't needed because the Strong Mayor Powers made it the mayor's budget.
"In 2024, now we're told that's not the case and we need committees again. The concern is that the goal posts keep on changing. We're told in 2023 we don't need committees; in 2024 we're told we do need committees. Last week we're told it wasn't a double-digit increase; this week we're told it is a double-digit increase," he says.
The mayor must present the proposed budget by Feb. 1, 2025, under Ontario's Strong Mayor Powers, at which point council will have 30 days to review and make any recommendations for change.
Francis will serve on the economic development and engineering committee, which will begin meeting Tuesday.
He wonders why they didn't have meetings earlier if they knew the budget was going to have a double-digit increase.
"Being brought in this process in the 11th hour almost seems like someone is baking a cake; they're buying the ingredients for this cake, and the cake doesn't turn out well. Now they're looking to all of us to fix it," he says.
Francis is also not happy with the lack of transparency when council has been making spending decisions and the potential budgetary impact of those choices.
"If we're approving a $15 million ice rink that's $6 million over budget, we probably should know we're facing down a double-digit tax increase prior to making that decision," he says. "So decisions shouldn't be made as one-offs without knowing how they effect the operating budget a few weeks or a few months down the road."
In an effort to find savings, Francis believes council should consider eliminating the Asset Management Plan tax, examining councillor expenses for items such as travel to conferences, and a cost of service review to find the most effective way to provide a service, whether it's in-house or privatization.
A corporate hiring freeze for all permanent full-time positions is currently in place at the City of Windsor ahead of the budget process.