UPDATE: $75,000 IN GRAVENHURST COVID-19 FUNDING
GRAVENHURST — Financial help for local COVID-19 sufferers is reaching closer to home with a special fund by the town.
The town is also seeking a slice of upper tier relief funds as it deals with the municipal fallout that could cost it an estimated $1.2 million in staffing and lost revenue.
Gravenhurst is also working to mitigate the losses with no new summer hires, says a report from the CAO.
An updated release Friday afternoon said the province is also providing $50,000 to Gravenhurst in social assistance transfers. Earlier they said it was $150,000.
Following weeks of financial assistance from the federal and provincial governments, local councils are stepping up with more money.
The Town of Gravenhurst said in its release Friday, April 24, that it continues to review services and implement measures necessary in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Tuesday’s webcasted committee of the whole countil meeting, a motion was put forward to allocate $25,000 from the Terence Haight Reserve to create a COVID-19 Financial Assistance Fund.
It is to assist established community agencies and service clubs that provide financial, mental health, food security assistance (among other services) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The motion was unanimously approved.
No time frame was provided in the release.
Staff will begin working on next steps to make this funding available as soon as possible.
Bracebridge also set up a similar fund this week of $40,000 with May 8 application deadline.
Mayor Paul Kelly further announced $155,000 in social services relief funding from the province being distributed to a number of local community support groups in Gravenhurst.
In a report to council, CAO Glen Davies said provincial direction and guidelines from the South Muskoka District Medical Officer of Health and Administration’s assessment of risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic would result in a projected $1.2 million revenue shortfall for 2020.
Specifically, this is due to:
- Town facility closures, which directly impacts programming and activities in the community (e.g. the Library, Opera House, the YMCA and the Centennial Centre);
- Cancellation of all summer events and programming at Muskoka Wharf and the waterfront for the foreseeable future;
- And limitations on the authority and ability to proceed with regular receipt and processing of planning applications and building permits.
Davies said that the town has taken steps to mitigate the financial impact of these projected revenue losses that will result in an estimated $1.7 million in one-time cost-savings.
These saving will come from:
- No new hires or filling of any vacancies for the rest of 2020, pending specific approval;
- Cancellation of all student hires for the summer, pending specific approval;
- Immediate freeze on professional development, consulting and other discretionary expenses;
- Estimates of utility and other related savings from facility closures for the majority of the year;
- Adjustments to maintenance costs for vehicles and equipment.
“The end result of reducing the workforce by some 50 staff positions helps the town respond to the provincial health directions. This will have a noticeable impact on service levels in the community,” Davies said.
“It is unrealistic to believe that there will be a return to normal before the fall,” added Davies.
“For the Town’s
purposes, we have assumed that the current state will continue for a period until the end of September and that a transition period of three months would be necessary before a gradual return to normal,” he told council.
He said that while there will be dramatic reduction in some services, town operations will see a net savings of $500,000.00 in 2020, based on the mitigations undertaken to date.
