The City of Delta says they are encouraged by the financial support and flexibility the province has given them as they continue to work through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Thursday B.C.’s minister of municipal affairs announced a series of measures aimed to help money-losing municipalities get back on their financial feet during the pandemic.
Selina Robinson said the measures, which include giving municipalities “greater flexibility” to carry debt for an additional year, is a first step in addressing local governments’ cash flow needs.
“Based on our analysis, this will make a difference in the immediate and get them through the crunch that many are experiencing,” Robinson said.
Other measures include allowing local governments to borrow interest-free from their existing capital reserves to help pay for operating expenses, such as employee salaries.
Government will also delay provincial school tax remittances until the end of the year. The government says this will provide significant relief to municipalities facing cash flow issues.
“For Delta, I thought it was extremely important that the province provided this assistance to us,” said Mayor George Harvie. “It has given us more internal flexibility to meet our needs. This is always a moving target. We don’t know exactly when this will end, but this has given us some good flexibility to keep our operations in place.”
Harvie said staff is continuing to work on Delta’s overall budget plans and proposed property tax increases. A full report is expected to come to council at its next scheduled virtual council meeting on April 27.
Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver is also thanking the Province for the financial relief measures.
Metro says the new measures announced provide important financial support for local businesses, greater clarity for municipalities, and recognize the need to ensure regional districts like Metro Vancouver continue to maintain critical service levels, including the delivery of drinking water and the management of liquid and solid waste.
Authorizing local governments to borrow against capital reserves and providing greater flexibility to carry debt, are good interim tools to address immediate cash-flow shortfalls resulting from delayed collection of property taxes and reduced revenue due to suspended local services, said Metro.
“COVID-19 has put municipalities in an extraordinarily difficult position – unlike provincial and federal governments, we cannot run deficit budgets – forcing us to make difficult decisions with respect to balancing our budgets,” said Metro board chair Sav Dhaliwal. “While these new measures will provide greater certainty and flexibility in the short term, Metro Vancouver will continue advocating on behalf of its members for additional financial support from the B.C. and Government of Canada as COVID-19 continues to impact our communities.”
with files from Mike Howell/Glacier Media
