The warden of Richmond Co. says the effect of COVID-19 on their upcoming budget is hard to predict.
Amanda Mombourquette says it’s clear the virus has affected their financial position, but they won’t know how badly until they dig into the numbers.
After February’s regular municipal council meeting Monday night, Mombourquette said the pandemic also makes it hard to estimate if a tax increase is on the table.
“I don’t think we’re able to predict it at this point- I’d say we’re feeling fairly confident going in, but we can’t make any commitments at this point because we still need to work through that as a group,” she said. “I think COVID-19 puts everybody in a weaker position because you just can’t predict your revenues, and we’re no different.”
Mombourquette said reports from staff members have been second-to-none, so they’re going into budget talks armed with good information.
She said she’s excited to start the work.
“We’re also in this unique sweet spot because we’ve- all of us (have)- just come off of a campaign trail where we heard about the priorities of people in Richmond Co.,” she said. “We can’t do it all, but I’ll be looking forward to seeing what we can do together.”
Mombourquette said budget planning is set to get underway in March.
