Windsor's mayor has announced which councillors will be serving on three different committees tasked with finding savings in the 2025 budget, which could include the highest tax increase in 20 years.
Drew Dilkens has appointed the 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.
Dilkens told Monday's council meeting that they all 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.
Each committee will work alongside city commissioners and submit recommendations to administration for consideration.
Ward 1 councillor Fred Francis disagrees with the separate subcommittees and thinks they should all be in one room together to tackle the problem.
"I think most people would understand that if you have huge problems and complicated problems, you put everyone in a room. You lock them in a room if you have to, and you don't let them out until they have a tax increase that's super reasonable," he says.
Francis told AM800's The Morning Drive that everyone should be seeing the whole picture rather than a fragmented process.
"Some councillors are looking at one department or two departments and moving at different times and different terms of references, and different everything; that doesn't make too much sense to me. I'd much rather get everyone in a room, get us all together, look at the big picture, have complete buy-in, and walk out of that room, everyone singing the same song and coming with a number that is a lot more reasonable to the people of Windsor," he says.
Public deliberations will begin the week of Sept. 23.
An online survey will be available for the public from Sept. 17 to Oct. 23, to provide feedback or suggestions., reaffirm support for critical infrastructure projects, and offer suggestions for reliable service delivery.
Committee One - Corporate and Community Services:
- Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac (Chair)
- Councillor Renaldo Agostino
- Councillor Mark McKenzie
- Councillor Kieran McKenzie
Committee Two - Economic Development and Engineering:
- Councillor Jim Morrison (Chair)
- Councillor Gary Kaschak
- Councillor Fred Francis
Committee Three - Finance and Social Services:
- Councillor Fabio Costante (Chair)
- Councillor Ed Sleiman
- Councillor Angelo Marignani
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.
Last year, Dilkens presented his first budget under the Strong Mayor Powers, making him responsible for preparing and presenting the budget to city council for their consideration.
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.