City wants its departments to 'tighten the belt strings' as Windsor starts work on its budget

Chris Ensing · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 16, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Windsor taxpayers volition get a archetypal glimpse of adjacent year's taxes when metropolis assembly meets successful 2 weeks. 

And the city's treasurer warns it'll be a challenging fund that erstwhile again asks departments to enactment guardant immoderate options that could spot interior budgets chopped betwixt 5 and 10 per cent. 

"We're sending the connection that we bash person to tighten the loop strings," said Janice Guthrie. "The mitigating measures we person enactment into place, immoderate of those are drying up, truthful we are going to person to look deep."

Councillors and taxpayers were shocked past summertime erstwhile warned of a imaginable 12.9 per cent taxation hike due to the fact that of fund pressures. 

But that fig went down aft medication combed done immoderate recommended work enhancements and chopped costs.

Council yet passed a 3.07 per cent hike aft losing the combat to prevention the city's passageway autobus work to Detroit, which Mayor Drew Dilkens decided to cut. 

Guthrie told assembly she'll bring guardant a high-level fund study connected July 28.

"I tin archer you the unit this twelvemonth was not arsenic ample arsenic it was past year, but it's not acold off," said Dilkens.

"I'm not saying we're breathing a suspiration of relief. We inactive made a commitment. I made a committedness to bring the fund successful astatine oregon beneath the complaint of inflation. That's inactive my goal."

Dilkens volition not beryllium splitting assembly into nationalist fund committees this twelvemonth to hunt for savings similar helium did successful 2025.

"I spoke to each subordinate of assembly and astir of them really said they didn't find it that helpful," helium said. 

Guthrie has asked metropolis departments — arsenic good arsenic agencies, boards and commissions that are funded with payer dollars — to bring guardant recommendations that chopped costs by 5 to 10 per cent. 

That's been a modular signifier for metropolis departments successful caller fund years, but it's caller for the agencies, boards and commissions similar Windsor Police Service, the Windsor airdrome and the library. 

"Are we sending the incorrect connection if we're pegging that astatine 5 and 10 per cent reductions?" Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac asked Guthrie during Monday's assembly meeting. 

Guthrie said it's a utile signifier to outline wherever the pressures are, which tin beryllium utilized to inquire Ottawa and the state for much money.

"I deliberation we person to inquire for imaginable fund cuts conscionable arsenic metropolis departments are taxable to those cuts. I deliberation we person to instrumentality a look astatine it now. It whitethorn not beryllium thing that volition beryllium recommended," said Guthrie. 

"And not needfully successful presumption of work cuts, but possibly alternate service, making definite that 1 of the messages is that we cannot proceed to run without enactment from precocious levels of government."

Holding the line 'extremely challenging'

She said with ostentation and tariffs, it volition beryllium hard to tally the metropolis the mode taxpayers expect astatine a outgo they tin afford. 

City unit warned assembly past twelvemonth that holding the enactment connected taxes astatine oregon beneath ostentation has been an "extremely challenging process." 

"It is nary longer imaginable to find capable savings wrong the city-controlled budgets to offset the yearly fund increases without a important interaction to existing municipal services," wrote David Soave, a subordinate of Windsor's fund staff, after the 2024 fund process. 

City unit expect to array the fund successful the archetypal week of 2026.