THUNDER BAY – The City of Thunder Bay is offering financial relief to individuals, businesses, and non-profits struggling under the COVID-19 pandemic that has ground much economic activity to a halt.
City council approved a package of relief measures Monday night, which together are estimated to cost the city just under $700,000 over the coming months.
Payment on the municipal tax installment due May 6 will be deferred until July 8. The city will also waive late-payment fees on water bills due in April, May, and June. The city estimates those moves will result in around $370,000 in reduced revenue, at least in the short term.
Those on a pre-authorized payment plan will need to contact the city to request deferrals. General manager of corporate services Linda Evans said the city is not allowed to make changes to pre-authorized accounts, of which there are around 8,000, without a request.
The package also establishes a $235,000 emergency fund for local non-profits. The fund will be open to organizations who have already qualified for the Community, Youth & Cultural fund program, which provides millions of dollars in annual support to many of the city’s major non-profits.
Council resisted city administration’s proposal to oversee disbursement of the emergency fund, preferring to keep that power in the hands of elected officials.
“I feel very strongly that council should be the ultimate decision-makers for this fund,” said Coun. Rebecca Johnson. “There’s political ramifications to this as well. I think council should be the ones to make this decision, because we have to live with the decision.”
Councillor Brian Hamilton suggested opening the emergency fund to other community groups, saying the community’s greatest needs may look significantly different under the COVID-19 pandemic. But city manager Norm Gale cautioned that move could “open the floodgates” to an unmanageable number of requests. Council ultimately opted to limit funding to those in the existing program.
The city will also cease collections work, except that which is legislatively required, and waive fees related to non-sufficient funds (NSF) on tax and water payments for 90 days.
Fees and deadlines for a number of city programs will also be relaxed. That includes extending the deadline to apply for the tax and water credit programs for seniors and persons with disabilities to September, and waiving fees for re-issuing marriage licenses and services for three months.
In measures aimed to help business, the city will extend the payment deadline for accounts receivable invoices for April, May, and June from 30 to 90 days, waive business-related permit and license fees for 2020 for a three-month period, and reduce sign permit fees by 25 per cent for the next year.
Some councillors looked to go further with financial relief efforts. Coun. Aldo Ruberto questioned how the city expected individuals and businesses to be able to pay months’ worth of bills in July, given that the COVID-19 crisis appears set to last.
Even if businesses were to reopen by then, Ruberto said, they wouldn’t have the cash flow to catch up on deferred and current bills. City administration said it was too early to answer that question, but that the city would reassess its options closer to the deadline.
Coun. Andrew Foulds also questioned whether the $235,000 emergency fund was enough to meet the needs non-profits will face in coming months.
City manager Norm Gale urged councillors to focus on short-term measures, saying the quickly-changing situation made it difficult to plan beyond that time frame.
“Things are going to change even in the next seven to ten days," Gale said.
