City of Prince Albert Continues to Monitor Financial Impacts of Covid-19

The City of Prince Albert continues to monitor and update financial forecasts as the impacts of COVID-19 are felt across the organization. Forecasts as of May 13, 2020 will be presented to City Council on June 1 and show the impacts by quarter to the end of December 31, 2020. While this may change, forecasts assume that measures will require that facilities remain closed until the end of December (with the exception of Cooke Municipal Golf Course).

Quarterly, accumulated net losses to the end of December are projected as follows:

Although year end projections show a potential operating loss of $750,000, forecasts are continually changing as measures are lifted, revenue streams are restored and funding is announced by senior governments.

“There are a lot of unknowns in terms of the full financial toll this will take on us as a City. We still have risks associated with cash flow as property taxes are deferred and we know businesses are suffering and some may close permanently,” said Mayor Greg Dionne. “Administration took steps early in the process to provide detailed financial analysis. We know where we’ve been hit the hardest which positions us well to manage the issue and respond where we can.”

A combination of savings in different operational areas has helped to offset revenue losses to the end of December. This includes:

• Reducing transit services in response to drops in ridership
• Utility savings at recreation facilities
• Staffing wages and benefits saved due to layoffs of casual employees, freezing hiring in non-essential work units, voluntary leave and postponed call backs of seasonal employees in impacted areas
• Non-essential spending freeze

Although the City has shouldered significant financial impacts, there is a need to balance the losses against the need for services and economic stimulus.

“Citizens rely on us for a variety of core services,” said Mayor Greg Dionne. “We had to scale back staffing slightly in some areas but for the most part residents can expect to see near normal service levels as the Spring and Summer construction season approaches.”

Additionally, $24,527,535 million in capital projects budgeted for 2020 will proceed as planned.

“We can’t afford to fall behind on infrastructure. We have a $65 million deficit in underground pipes alone and each year we chip away at it. This work needs to proceed.” said Mayor Greg Dionne. “In this year in particular we have a role to play in keeping people working and doing what we can to provide economic stimulus through construction and capital projects.”

Recent announcements from the Provincial government to support municipalities have not yet been factored into the financial analysis and there are further savings that may be explored before the next update to City Council. The City also remains hopeful that further funding may be coming from the Federal government.

Given the changing nature of the crises, the analysis will continue to be updated regularly to account for changes in revenue and expense projections. “It’s such a fluid situation, it’s important that we stay on top of the numbers and continue to re-evaluate the City’s financial position,” said Jim Toye, City Manager.  “The pandemic has certainly affected the City financially and we are working hard to navigate through these challenges to provide City Council with current data that is relevant to the decisions they are facing.”

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Mayor Greg Dionne
(306) 953-4300

Jim Toye
City Manager
(306) 953-4395