The City of Winnipeg budget can be difficult for even the keenest of citizens to decipher. As the City continues to refine how it presents it budget, we need to look at previous years to fully understand what changes are being made. Hopefully the explanation below provides some clarity on Winnipeg Transit’s operating budget.
2021 Projection to 2021 Budget
| There are slight changes in the presentation of the budgets – ‘Debt and finance charges’ were moved out of Operating Expenses |  |
| Removing ‘Debt and finance charges” from the Operating Expenses from the 2021 projection, we are able to compare the 2021 Projection (from the 2020 budget) to this year’s preliminary 2021 budget |  |
Now that both Operating Expenses are in the same format we can see that Transit’s operating expense budget was cut by $15.795 M or 7.9% from last year’s projection.
(2021 Preliminary) $185.221 M – (2021 Projection) $201.016 M = – $15.795 M
Transit’s operating expense budget was cut by $15.795 M or 7.9%
But what about the remaining years of this four year budget? They don’t fair any better, 2022 is cut by $13.218 M (6.3%) and 2023 is cut by $15.220 M (7.0%)
2020 Budget to 2021 Budget
But what about the overall change to transit operating expenses from 2020 to 2021? Provided we make the same adjustments as noted above, moving ‘Debt and finance charges’ out of Operating Expenses for the 2020 Adopted Budget, we find:
• 2020 Adopted Budget – Operating Expense: $193.057 M
• 2021 Preliminary Budget – Operating Expense: $185.221 M
That is a cut of $ 7.836M or 4% for Transit’s operating expense from 2020 Adopted Budget to the 2021 Preliminary Budget.
There is no doubt that the City of Winnipeg is facing tough decisions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Winnipeggers are still depending on the transit system to get them where they need to be. Whether it’s essential health care workers getting to their jobs on the frontlines of this pandemic, families getting their kids to school, or seniors going out for groceries, everybody deserves access to an affordable, accessible, and frequent transit service. As we all navigate these unprecedented times and are face with tough decision we need:
- Proper public discourse on budgets with transparent figures
- Cooperation between all levels of government
That is why we are asking City Council to not only reverse these cuts but ALSO put a motion calling on the Manitoba government to commit to matching the remaining $32 million of federal dollars for transit operation funding AND to continue to support public transit in Winnipeg during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are concerned as we are, send an email to your Councillor from our form email
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Sources:
2021 Preliminary Budget – Operating and Capital Volume 2 – – – (Transit – PDF Page 103 to 105)
2020 Adopted Budget – Operating and Capital Volume 2– – – (Transit – PDF Page 109 to 111)
To view all City of Winnipeg budget documents: https://winnipeg.ca/finance/documents_page.stm