St. Catharines is starting to see just how hard the city has been financially hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this point the city is facing a $2.4M shortfall due to fallen revenue over the course of the year.
Budget Chair Mat Siscoe tells CKTB he is confident that city officials will be able to bridge the gap.
He says the city is losing revenue usually created by facilities which are closed due to the pandemic, whether it be renting out a hall, ice time, or swimming pool fees.
He is optimistic the city can bridge the gap by not hiring summer students, not having to upkeep sports fields to the conditions teams are used to.
Siscoe says one of the stipulations municipalities must obey with is not running a deficit, but if they can't reopen facilities, they need some relief from the upper levels of government.
He says the next two years will be tough to keep financially on track, but he has hope that by keeping a zero property tax increase for that period of time will help get the city back on solid footing.