City may dip into Winnipeg Transit's surplus funds as pandemic continues to batter revenues

City of Winnipeg departments continue to bleed revenue as the COVID-19 pandemic affects their finances.

The slide has prompted a recommendation to dig into Transit's retained earnings to stem some of the losses.

The latest updates to the the city's finance committee show forecast income dropping from normally strong revenue generators, such as photo enforcement and traditional fines — down $3.5 million over last year.

Winnipeg Transit is projecting a whopping $32.4 million shortfall, as ridership has plummeted during the pandemic.

Revenue from the city's special operating agencies, such as the Winnipeg Parking Authority, is down $11.2 million.

The city's largest source of cash — taxes — has also seen a drop, with property taxes down 9.5 per cent from 2019, and business taxes down 7.6 per cent to the end of August.

Some of the balance sheet damage has been mitigated by layoffs of non-essential staff and Transit operators during the height of the lockdown. The city has also implemented a hiring freeze for the remainder of the year, a freeze on senior management salaries and a voluntary furlough program.

The projected savings from those moves is $37.1 million.

The city is leaning into its financial stabilization reserve fund to get to a balanced budget — a requirement under its charter — but is currently forecasting a $2.5 million deficit, not including the Transit shortfall.

Transit has a built up surplus $9 million of retained earnings that the finance committee is considering using to offset some of the lost revenue.

"I think one of the advantages of a department like Transit having retained earnings [is] they can be utilized in a situation like we're facing right now, and act as a buffer to to help mitigate some of the impact of COVID-19," said finance chair Coun. Scott Gillingham (St. James).

Gillingham expects ridership to increase as the health crisis eases and those surpluses — normally used for upgrades to equipment and facilities — will be replenished.

That doesn't mean he doesn't have concerns, though.

"I think the biggest fear here is the length of the pandemic and its impact on the city's revenues and the city's expenses. My greatest concern is that it goes … for a long time," Gillingham told CBC News Thursday.

The city is waiting for the federal government and the province to sort out Winnipeg's share of a pair of national programs to help municipalities cope with the effects of the pandemic.

Some of that cash would be earmarked to help beleaguered transit systems.

Gillingham says discussions are ongoing with the province of Manitoba about when the money would arrive and how much Winnipeg will receive.

Ottawa announced the federal programs in July.