The City of Richmond is estimating a revenue shortfall between $3.4 to $4 million every month during the pandemic, but some has been offset by not hiring seasonal workers, laying off auxiliary staff and not filling vacancies.
A large chunk of the shortfall in revenue is due to the closure of River Rock Casino. The city budgeted receiving $14.5 million in gaming revenue in 2020, but with the closure in March, revenues so far this year have been $2.71 million, or about 19 per cent of what was expected.
The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has stated casinos would be the last priority for re-opening.
The gaming funds were earmarked for debt financing, grants, the RCMP (four officers), capital reserves, council community initiatives and the building and infrastructure reserve.
When the city resumes subsidized programs, the financial impact is expected to increase, according to a report going to city council on Tuesday.
City council will attend its finance meeting on Tuesday afternoon where a comprehensive report on its fiscal situation will be dealt with, including details on the impact of the pandemic.
The community safety budget was almost $500,000 over budget in the first half of 2020 largely because of the community ambassador program, lower business licence revenue and less parking revenue.
The cancellation of Richmond Night Market is cited as the biggest contributor to the 60-per-cent drop in business licences in the second quarter of the year as compared to the same period last year. A total of 246 businesses licences were issued by the city in the second quarter of 2020.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on city revenues as well as bringing the Metro Vancouver unemployment rate up to 13.1 per cent, house prices are not declining.
The home price index (HPI) in Richmond for a single-family home was about $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2020, up by 1.8 per cent compared to the second quarter last year.
Townhouse property prices also increased by 1.5 per cent with the HPI at $791,100 while apartments sit at $650,700 with an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2019.
