Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart is asking the province for an emergency grant of $200 million to help offset the likely major financial hit when the coronavirus pandemic begins to end.
Despite cost-cutting measures such as temporarily laying off 1,500 municipal employees, Stewart told a news conference on Wednesday that there is still a “serious gap” in funding at City Hall.
He said he anticipates a 50-per-cent drop in tax revenue between March and May, adding that governments cannot apply for the federal wage subsidy.
![Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get daily National news
The $200-million figure is based on when government health orders and other restrictions may end.
![Click to play video: 'City of Vancouver unveils measures to protect vulnerable DTES residents'](https://i0.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/news/rbvazkjzvj-ledujb7suo/JPEG_VANCOUVER_COVID_PALMA.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all)
In a worst case scenario — a recovery period stretching to end of December — Stewart said he expects a financial hit of about $189 million, equivalent to a 24-per-cent increase in property taxes.
“Slow economic recovery in Vancouver means slower recovery throughout B.C.,” he said.
Comments