The City of Estevan has not been forced to reopen its budget as of yet due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Roy Ludwig told the Mercury on Monday night that city manager Jeff Ward and city treasurer Trudy Firth keep council updated about the city’s financial picture on a weekly basis.
However, Ludwig expects there will have to be some spending cutbacks, especially on capital projects for this year.
“At this point, we’re still watching very carefully. It’s still early yet. A lot of our work is done mid-spring and summer, so we’ll be able to have a better handle on this probably in the next few weeks on any changes that we’re going to look at,” the mayor said.
The water intake project, which is shifting the city’s primary water source from Boundary Dam to Rafferty Dam, is definitely still going to proceed. (For more on the intake project, please see Page A12). He also expects the resurfacing of Souris Avenue South from Fourth Street to Perkins Street to go ahead.
Tasks that are contracted out, such as paving, will still happen. It will also be important to have work that local businesses can complete whenever possible.
There would be other projects that could be on the chopping block.
Council might also look at trimming some of their long-term debt repayments. The city has been reducing its long-term debt by about $2 million per year over the previous few years. But council could decide to reduce the debt by $1 million this year, or keep it at the same level.
The mayor vowed the city wouldn’t have a property tax increase this year.
“Any savings, any moneys that we need will come out of the existing budget,” said Ludwig.
The city has previously granted a two-month deferral on property taxes to those who have lost their job or some of their income because of COVID-19. And they’re losing money on fees and services, such as leisure centre passes, facility rentals and more.
Ludwig pointed out the city’s overall financial picture is in pretty good shape, which has helped them weather this storm. They had cash in the bank before the COVID-19 pandemic, and their net debt has slowly been in decline.
“We’ve been working diligently over the past two terms on paying down debt, so we’ve gone from some $47 million in net debt to under $20 (million). So we’re pretty proud of that fact. And now in the harder times, that will stand us in good stead.”
As for other fronts, it’s now been more than a month since the city closed non-essential buildings, including the Estevan Leisure Centre and its amenities, such as Affinity Place, to the public. City Hall is also closed to the public, although services via the telephone are still available.
Ludwig is hopeful that they will learn more when the provincial government reveals their plans to reopen the economy.
But the mayor wouldn’t be surprised if the leisure centre is among the last amenities to open up again, because it’s a place where people gather.
In the meantime, city staff members have been catching up on needed painting and repairs at the leisure centre.
“I know they’re still very busy over there, but there will come a point in time where we will have to revisit that situation … as far as manpower requirements.”
Some repairs that have been completed were needed for a while. The equipment in a crawlspace beneath the RM of Estevan Aquatic Centre has been changed out.
“It’s given us the opportunity to get caught up, where otherwise it’s hard to get caught up, because in some cases this equipment is running 24-7,” said Ludwig.
The RM of Estevan Aquatic Centre usually goes through a shutdown in the fall. But the projects for the shutdown were fast-tracked this year so that the pool will be ready once it can be opened again.
Some of the crews who have been working inside have shifted outdoors and are now working in the parks.
The city has not had to lay off any of its full-time or part-time permanent staff as of yet, but they haven’t been drawing on their casual workers.
“Because of the fact that everybody’s working hard, keeping up maintenance on our buildings … we haven’t had to look too closely (at layoffs for permanent staff), but the longer this goes on, obviously, even in the next week or the next few days, we have to continually look at our manpower requirements and make sure that the work is there for our people,” he said.
Fewer summer students will be hired this year as well. While there are subsidies available from the government, and they do believe in having summer students so the young people can pay for their university tuition, the city will have to cut back.
“I know that in the crack filling and in the parks, some of that summer staff is absolutely needed,” said Ludwig.
If they would have had seven or eight summer students on crack filling or pothole filling in the past, they might only have four this year.
Ludwig said most residents have handled the past six weeks very well. He’s pleased to see people have adopted social distancing, and he’s encouraged by stories of neighbours helping each other out.
“Our community has helped out in such a large way, because to beat this pandemic, everyone has to work together, and we see our community doing an awesome job.”
