Sandison added, “The finance committee is fully cognizant of the challenges faced by businesses, residents, and by our external partners.”
The mayor and some councillors pointed out the idea is to reach some agreement with the provincial and federal governments regarding any COVID-19 financing.
Mayor Mitch Panciuk pointed out that Belleville is not alone in not having a working budget at this point, many other municipalities are in the same situation.
He said that he received advice from the provincial Municipal Affairs minister’s office to wait as long as possible before doing a budget, to give upper levels of government time to provide whatever funding they can.
Premier Doug Ford took the Canadian Federation of Municipalities request for $10 billion for municipal assistance to the Premier’s Table where it is being considered.
The city has been losing money in various fees such as transit and parking.