The City of Windsor is facing a large deficit halfway through the year, majority of which is due to emergency services.
During Monday's council meeting, administration stated that by the end of the second quarter - or halfway through the year - the city has identified $7.7-million in unrealized revenues and unanticipated expenditures.
A large portion of that is due to the city's emergency services, such as Windsor Fire and Rescue, as well as Windsor Police.
At the end of the second quarter, Windsor Fire and Rescue is projecting a $1,585,000 deficit, while Windsor Police is projecting a $2,575,000 deficit.
With only a few months left in the year to balance the budget, both services have been working with the City of Windsor to try to level those costs out before budget time in December.
Both services explained that this deficit was due to very similar circumstances - such as experiencing pressures due to overtime costs and sick calls, and WSIB claims - and that little improvement has been made as the end of the third quarter approaches.
Windsor Fire Chief Jamie Waffle says they're working close with the city to address the overtime costs.
"Trying to separate those that are related to sick calls from those that are arbitrated and legislated decisions. So this is allowing us to clarify and identify the pressures and bring forward some corrective measures, and creative solutions when we run into the budget days."
Waffle says they feel the pinch when employees call in sick.
"Summer's sometimes a little bit heavier for us, but the year end findings seem to be in line with this last we talked with our finance. A reminder that every time we fill a shift, it's a 24 hour shift at time and a half."
Windsor Police Deputy Chief of Operational Support, Karel DeGraaf, says they're facing a deficit due to a range of reasons.
"Overtime, we have presumptive legislation within the province that addresses Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, so our WSIB claims have also been exceeded. We've also been addressed with our Senior Officers' Association who just recently ratified a new agreement."
DeGraaf says the service is facing so many overtime hours due to weekly protests occurring throughout the city.
"If we have five people protesting on a corner, obviously we can monitor that. If there's 1,000 people that are protesting, they haven't received a permit from the city, there may be ongoing threats to that particular group or counter protests, we have to staff it accordingly."
Janice Guthrie, Commissioner of Finance and City Treasurer, says the city is working to bring the deficit down, including looking for other revenue streams.
"There's certainly new opportunities coming forward everyday. We're looking at out salaries, we're looking at our staffing making sure that we're hiring the positions that need to be hired to deliver the service, but those that may have to wait we are holding off on those."
While emergency services took up a chunk of the deficit, Transit Windsor at the end of the second quarter is projecting a $3,468,000 deficit for 2025.
However, city administration explained during the meeting that a large portion of that deficit was due to the tunnel bus, as well as paid medical leave days for transit employees.
By eliminating the tunnel bus, the city is expected to save $1.6-million and will start seeing those savings since the service ended at the end of August.