Lloydminster city staff is putting together a report looking at the impacts COVID-19 had on the city’s business.
At the end of the June 8 city council meeting, Manager EMO Jordan Newton informed council that the incident management team is currently collecting data on the pandemic’s effect on the city. The initial report will be comparing data from April 2020 to data from April 2019.
It will look at the financial impact to the city as well as other factors caused by the closure of city facilities like the Servus Sports Centre and the Bioclean Aquatic Centre.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers says it will be interesting to see how the city’s operations have been impacted by the pandemic.
“We know there are costs to operate facilities and it will help highlight that to the public. It will also show some potential cost savings because when the artificial ice plant hasn’t been running for a couple of months that will be reflected.”
Aalbers says it will also highlight the costs incurred from the cancellation of programs and registration fees no longer coming in.
He mentions the report will also have future impacts as it will give the provincial and federal governments a concrete numbers on the effects of the pandemic.
“We have discussions with provincial and federal government regarding support for municipalities. That’s the kind of hard numbers they are looking for when making budget decisions. It provides an immediate solution to questions we know are going to come.”
Newton says the current plan is to present the findings in an interim report in July.
Another report will be done during phase four of reopening taking into account a full months worth of data. A final report will be done when the pandemic is over to measure the city’s recovery.