COVID-19.In its first quarter financial report released Monday the city projects it’s lost $25.8 million as of March 31 and forecasts the operational budget deficit to grow to $53.8 million by the end of 2020.In April the city said it could be losing as much as $12 million a month due to the pandemic.
Sharp drops in revenue led the city to temporarily layoff hundreds of city workers and make cuts to services and programs including closing libraries, pools and community centres.Winnipeg Transit also temporarily laid off staff and reduced bus services, and the city says it’s cut discretionary spending, frozen fleet purchases, and put a hiring freeze in place for the rest of the year.Those moves have resulted in $12.9 million in forecasted.