City officials thought they were facing a “surprise” $1.45 million bill for childcare services – the result of provincial reconciliation efforts – but that no longer appears to be the case.
“That $1.45 million has been basically eliminated,” said Luisa Artuso, director of the children’s early years division for the County of Wellington, which oversees childcare services on behalf of the city, on Tuesday. “We’re still working on the final numbers.”
In a report to city council on Monday, CAO Scott Stewart explained city officials learned of the unexpected bill last month, part of an overall retroactive funding reduction of $3.5 million from the province. Guelph’s share of that was $1.45 million, with the rest to be covered by the county.
The funding reduction was spurred by a reconciliation regarding the drop in childcare services provided in the first part of the pandemic, Artuso explained.
All childcare centres were ordered closed in March, though some were allowed to reopen at reduced capacity for emergency childcare.
“They were not able to fully operate … until September,” said Artuso.
Provincial funding anticipated full service through the year.
Since county officials learned of the reconciliation shortfall, discussions with the province have been underway and, on Friday evening, bore fruit.
“As a result of all of that, we’re actually looking at the year-end for 2020, there will be little to no impact on the municipal bottom line,” Artuso said, adding she’s unsure if other municipalities were able to successfully renegotiate their reconciliation.
