Council is moving to delay any changes to parking enforcement in Windsor.
During discussions Monday around the proposed 2024 Budget, council voted against a recommendation for parking enforcement hours to be extended by three hours.
Parking meters are currently enforced Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. but the budget recommended extending parking meter enforcement to 9 p.m. in a move to increase revenue.
Ward 3's Renaldo Agostino has been vocal against the proposed change, given how it could impact parking in the downtown core.
Agostino introduced a motion that any consideration of increased enforcement be delayed until administration delivers a report on ways to improve and modernize the parking payment options in the city, a report he requested on Jan. 15.
Under the new budget process as part of the Ontario government's Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022, mayor Drew Dilkens can veto any amendments made by council.
The veto would trigger a process where council would have 15 days to overturn any vetoes by the mayor with a two-thirds vote.
Agostino says when you lose, say little and when you win, say less.
"Nothing is in the bag until it's guaranteed right, until the game is over. Until the budget and the formal process is finalized, there's no reason to take a win or a loss yet. This is a different budget process, I assume things look good but until it's over, I'll leave it there," he says.
Agostino says when that report comes back, we're going to see changes in the way we look at parking.
"The way we look at collecting revenue for parking that could almost triple the amount of revenue we take in now. There's a lot of different things being used in other communities and other cities that have been big winners for them. I think that we've left money on the table in our community for far too long. I'm excited to see where this goes," he says.
Mayor Dilkens will now review the council amendments to the proposed 2024 budget and make a decision on whether he plans to use his veto power, but Dilkens indicated after Monday's meeting that he's not expecting to veto the parking enforcement amendment.