A hiring freeze has been put in place at the City of Windsor ahead of very challenging budget deliberations.
Mayor Drew Dilkens announced Thursday that a corporate hiring freeze for all permanent full-time positions at the City of Windsor is in effect immediately.
According to the release, the decision will be subject to a review by the chief administrative officer of each position for operational needs.
Earlier this week, Dilkens appointed ten members of council to three different committees to search for operational and service-level savings in the city's operating budget for next year, which could include the highest tax increase in 20 years.
Dilkens informed members of council during this past Monday's meeting that everyone will need to be engaged in looking at service delivery and where efficiency and savings could be found, blaming inflationary and contractual pressures involving staff salaries for the challenging operating budget.
One committee will examine elements under the corporate and community services umbrella; the next will focus on economic development and engineering; and the third will examine services under finance and social services.
Public deliberations will begin the week of Sept. 23, but an online survey will be available for the public from Sept. 17 to Oct. 23.
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.
The 2024 budget was passed with a 3.91 percent property tax increase; however, the tax rate was increased in May 2024 after the mayor reopened the budget as $3.2 million more in spending was approved to support the Strengthen the Core—Downtown Windsor Revitalization plan.
The additional spending increased the final tax rate by 0.70 percent to 4.61 percent.