With a new Windsor city council committee gearing up to deal with all things budget before the end of the month, one fresh face on council is speaking up about potential parking changes included in the draft version.
The Operating Budget Review Committee will go through administration’s preliminary 2023 budget estimates starting on January 23 until January 26.
According to the City of Windsor, formation of the new working committee came at the suggestion of council members during earlier discussions surrounding the budget process.
One recommendation included in the draft budget is the idea of extending the enforcement period for parking meters from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., which is estimated to generate about $400,000 annually.
Ward 3 councillor Renaldo Agostino says he doesn't like the idea.
"What I don't want to do is discourage people from coming downtown. I don't want people to think twice and say 'well I'm not going to go to Cucina, I'll go somewhere else where there's parking'. The market place is very competitive when it comes to restaurants across the city, I don't want to give those that don't have free parking a disadvantage by putting another handcuff on them," he stated.
The 2023 draft budget includes a preliminary property tax increase of 5.23 per cent, with a number of recommendations related to both cuts and attempts to find new revenue.
Agostino says there's a lot in there to be discussed and debated, but that the parking idea is something that won't work for the downtown area.
"I don't think it's in the position of happening, when a draft budget comes out there's a ton to work through. It's not my first budget I've ever done in my life, it's certainly my first city budget, but I do five budgets a year for various different businesses. So there's a lot of suggestions that come to the table, I just think this suggestion is a bad one."
Agostino is optimistic that the committee will be able to get the overall increase knocked down a bit before debating it in front of the whole of council.
He says if all of his partnerships and advisors came up to him with a 5.23 per cent budget increase for the year, he'd have a huge smile on his face, but the problem with the city budget is they're talking hundreds of millions of dollars.
"So a 5.2 per cent increase is a lot when it comes to the City. I think there's going to be different ways that we can work with each other in council to really find ways to shave things off, but at the same time understand that the city is growing. And sometimes you've got to spend money to make money, so I'm excited to dig in," Agostino said.
The work of the budget review committee will allow for the provision of further guidance by the committee on the proposed 2023 municipal budget in advance of budget deliberations by council set for April.
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- with files from AM800's Rob Hindi