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Dufferin County reduces projected deficit from COVID-19 crisis

June 18, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By James Matthews

Cost-saving measures and new money means the financial hole dug by the necessary response to COVID-19 isn’t quite as deep for Dufferin County as initially thought.

Aimee Raves, Dufferin’s acting treasurer, brought the new figures for the projected year-end deficit to council last Thursday, June 11. County staff had initially braced for a possible deficit of about $1.5 million.

But Ms. Raves said a second look at the numbers had reduced that amount to a little more than $1.2 million.

That change, she said, is a result of some additional revenues and further cost savings related to continued program closures.

“That occurred because of additional funding to Dufferin Oaks as well as an increase in recycling rebate revenue,” she said.

“The recycling rebate market has taken a significant hit. We really weren’t sure what the revenues would be. They’re coming in higher than we had anticipated, which allowed us to revise our year-end estimates.”

Dufferin Oaks in Shelburne is a non-profit long-term care home built and operated by the county.

There is still uncertainty in a number of programs in relation to impacts on current and future funding. Treasury staff expects more information soon that will clarify how funding for pandemic pay for both Dufferin Oaks staff and paramedic service staff will be received.

As of the end of May, about $80,000 had been paid out to eligible staff working at Dufferin Oaks. Paramedic pay is administered by Headwaters Health Care Centre and billed to the county as part of a total paramedic services operating cost as outlined in the service contract.

“It is anticipated that the full impact of this (pandemic pay) program will be funded by the provincial government,” Ms. Raves wrote in a report submitted to council for the June 11 meeting.

Ms. Raves said Treasury is still awaiting word from Queen’s Park on “how the pandemic pay will roll out” for Dufferin Oaks staff, members of the Dufferin County Paramedic Service, and any community partners.

“We haven’t received any pandemic pay (from the province) yet,” she said.

The year-end projections are based on a number of assumptions and may reflect a worst-case scenario. It is likely the estimated deficit will be considerably less than $1,274,000 and any shortfall can be accommodated within the 2020 budget.

“The situation will continue to be monitored closely and changes to the projections will be provided to council on an ongoing basis,” said Ms. Raves.

In the interim, a thorough review of the $17.5 million of planned capital work for 2020 has been conducted. Nearly $15 million worth of work is planned to move forward in 2020, including almost $9 million for roads and structures, $2 million for vehicles, equipment and IT infrastructure. As much as $200,000 worth of projects is still planned to move forward but may be deferred due to unanticipated interruptions in the supply chain. Projects worth $400,000 are based on an as-needed basis.

It is anticipated that not all of this work will need to be completed in 2020. At this point, deferred projects are estimated at $1.8 million including nearly $1 million for elevator and security upgrades as staff engage consultants to assist in the preparation of tender documents for work to be completed in 2021. 

Although most of the remaining $800,000 will need to be completed at some point in the future, it is felt that these deferred projects as well as savings from previously under-spent projects will offset the anticipated deficit.

“We’re hoping to continue with the majority of our work this year,” Ms. Raves said. “But we definitely will be deferring some work.

“We’re certainly realizing we can’t get the level of work done … given existing resources.”

Some employees have been redeployed from areas where services have been suspended because of the pandemic. They’ve been moved to areas in which assistance is required. Nearly 20 staff were redeployed on either a full time or part time basis.

The estimated monthly cost of the redeployments is $93,000.

“These costs form part of the original 2020 staffing budget and to date are continuing to be charged to the home department of the employees,” Ms. Raves wrote in her report. “The one exception is a transfer of $36,000 per month to Dufferin Oaks for staff that are now working in the long-term care home.

“Further evaluation is required to determine the ongoing status of redeployments and additional information will be provided in a future report.”


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