COVID-19 is having an impact on the bottom line at City Hall but officials are offering a ‘measured reaction’ because things are changing almost daily.

“What we need to do is take that deep breath, it’s something we’ll continue to measure and monitor, we’re not looking to do knee jerk reactions,” says Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch.

She says staff are projecting a drop in revenues through June.

“Whether that’s penalties and fees, arena rentals being refunded, parking revenue down, all of those things combined up until June along with a few other revenue items, $1.2 million is what we’re projecting,” she says.

That doesn’t include any emergency expenses, and again, Vrebosch says that can change, especially with funding from other levels of government being announced almost daily too.

She says upwards of 80 casual, seasonal and temporary employees at the city have been temporarily laid off.

“The City of North Bay has roughly about 420 staff members so roughly about 20 percent of our staff members have been affected at this point,” Vrebosch says.

Staff are working in other areas though, including grocery and food bank deliveries and drop offs.

Vrebosch also says these are challenging times for a lot of people, but they’re here to help.

“If they’re experiencing any kind of interruption, contact the city at 705-474-0400 and talk to our customer service and finance staff, right now we’re not charging penaltiies or fees on anything when it comes to water and taxes,” she says.

Check out the city’s COVID-19 website for updates related to municipal programs and services HERE.

 

(File photo by station staff)

Filed under: City of North Bay, COVID-19