Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens tabled his proposed 2026 budget on Monday, triggering a 30 day review period for council to assess and propose amendments.
It recommends the previously announced 0 per cent tax levy increase, alongside a $317 million capital budget, with a focus on roads, sewers and other infrastructure.
Speaking on AM800’s The Shift with guest host Kristen Siapas, Mayor Drew Dilkens said that amid trade tensions and economic uncertainty, the city must show financial restraint.
The proposed budget includes extending parking meter enforcement by two hours each night to 9 p.m., reducing grass cutting and vegetation maintenance along E.C. Row Expressway, and raising Transit Windsor fares from $3.75 to $4.00 on April 1, 2026.
"Transit is a very highly subsidized service by the tax base, and those who use the service, and who need to use the service, who choose to use the service, they have to pay at least a fair and proportionate share. That's my opinion anyway," said Dilkens.
"So city council will certainly have a healthy debate on transit fares and if they want the tax base to subsidize more of that and not raise fares, that'll be a decision for city council."
Scattered throughout the city's operating budget document are labour relations matters, which usually refer to jobs, that show intended savings.
Dilkens said the vast majority of positions that helped achieve a 0 per cent tax increase are empty positions that will not be filled moving forward.
"I start from the premise that there are no scared cows at city hall. When we go through an exercise, especially one where we're looking at zero per cent, we have to consider every department, every position, where we can find efficiency. And I can say that when we look at the city there are ways to find and to deliver some of the services that we deliver more efficiently," he said.
The city is also relying on a one-time boost in dividend payments from Windsor Airport and the Windsor-Detroit BorderLink Corporation.
Dilkens said the city helped keep both organizations afloat with millions in support during COVID, and now that they've recovered, they’re in a position to return the favour with higher payout's.
"The airport is sitting on millions of dollars in cash. It's not unreasonable for us to say we need to cash manage and look at what's sitting there and how we can best handle all of our operations. I think it's a real positive story because there's cash available. We can look at funding that cash to the city as the sole shareholder and certainly make sure that we can keep taxes low for 2026," he said.
Upon looking through the budget intended to provide relief to taxpayers, Ward 1 coun. Fred Francis said he was "taken aback " due to concerns over the proposed increases for fees.
"If you're increasing the fees for parks and recreation, all the facilities, and licensing, that's an increase to the user fees as well so you're still increasing costs somewhere, right? That's still going to be an affordability issue for some," Francis said.
Francis said was concerned over any references to cuts and how it could impact services and livelihoods.
"A number of in-camera items in there that obviously personnel issues that were concerning to me, so, I don't know if this is going to come in at zero per cent to be quite honest with you," he said.
Francis said he didn't know if other councillors shared his concerns but was looking forward to having those discussions.
"I get it, zero per cent looks good, you can say hey listen zero per cent, we're going into an election year, that's a win. I totally understand that, but, if the budget doesn't make sense because you're increasing fees everywhere, or you're cutting jobs somewhere that's going to hurt the city, or hurt the operations of the city, you have to ask yourself am I saving money today but is it going to cost me double or triple tomorrow," he said.
As part of the mayor's budget, a number of high-profile budget items are seeing a proposed increase.
The Windsor Police Service budget is set to increase by about $6.2 million, signifying a 5.6 per cent increase compared to 2025.
Along the shores of Lake St. Clair, the city has earmarked $1.5 million for a new splash pad at Sandpoint Beach.
Documents on the city's proposed 2026 budget can be found here.
The city has scheduled a meeting for budget delegations on Jan. 12, 2026, beginning at 10 am.
-With files from CTV Windsor's Robert Lothian