The Town of Morinville has laid off about a third of its workforce to save money during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Town officials announced April 15 they had temporarily laid off 31 part-time and full-time workers and 40 casual staff as the town scaled back operations due to the novel coronavirus. The town had also delayed hiring 31 seasonal positions and temporarily banned all new hires.
Morinville has suspended many shows and programs and closed the town office, Morinville Leisure Centre, Community Cultural Centre, outdoor sports fields, splash park, and skate park to the public until June 30 to try and limit the spread of COVID-19.
In an email, town chief administrative officer Stephane Labonne said these layoffs applied to staff at the cultural centre, leisure centre and other non-essential services, and that essential staff in finance, economic development, public works, communications, bylaw, fire and the RCMP are all still at work. The 31 people laid off represent about a third of the Town of Morinville’s workforce.
“I want to be clear, the measures needing to be taken today are a direct reflection of the economic and public health realities of COVID-19, not a reflection of our employees or the valuable programs or services they deliver for the residents and businesses in Morinville each and every day,” Labonne said in a press release.
“Everything that can be done will be done to support both those temporarily laid off, and our staff that remain.”
Last resort, says mayor
The town has closed a lot of facilities and cancelled many programs due to the pandemic, and has to consider how many people it now needs on staff, Mayor Barry Turner said in an interview. The town has also reassigned many employees to keep them on the job to minimize impacts on families.
“It’s something we’ve considered as a last resort,” he said of the layoffs, and the town looks forward to rehiring these staff as soon as possible.
“It is taxpayers’ dollars, and we have to ensure we’re not spending more than necessary in order to maintain the programs and services we have.”
Turner said he is not sure how long these layoffs would last, as the town is relying on advice from the province’s chief medical officer.
Council heard April 3 that facility and booking cancellations related to COVID-19 from March 16 to May 31 had cost the town $41,450. Council has also voted to delay utility penalties and disconnections and arrears transfers to tax rolls from March 1 to Aug. 31, which could cost the town up to $12,600. The tax payment deadline has been extended to Aug. 31, but this isn’t anticipated to affect town finances.
A report from town corporate services director Shawna Jason April 3 found it was tough to say how the outbreak would affect the town’s finances, as it would depend on how many residents could still pay their tax bills. If revenues shrank to 25 per cent, the town’s bank account would be about $76,600 in the red by July. If revenues dried up completely, the town would be $1.8 million in the hole by June.
Labonne said in an email that administration is recalculating the effects of the pandemic on the town’s finances in the wake of these layoffs and would have an update at the April 28 council meeting.
Turner said he did not anticipate having to raise taxes due to the outbreak, adding any tax hikes would be tough to justify at this time.
The town’s tax rate bylaw did feature a 2.6 per cent hike as of first reading April 14. That was higher than the 2 per cent shown in the 2020 budget, but was due to lower than expected growth in property values, not the pandemic.
Library cuts
The Morinville Public Library announced April 17 that it too was slashing its workforce due to the pandemic, issuing temporary layoffs to seven of its 13 staff members.
"COVID-19 is hitting the economy really hard," said library director Isabelle Cramp, and the library was part of the economy. In order to make sure it had money to operate next year, the library board has decided to shed staff today.
This has been the most difficult decision the board has had to make yet, said board chair Jennifer Anheliger in a press statement.
"As this pandemic continues to have vast financial effects on our town, our duty to responsibly manage the publicly funded dollars allocated to our library remains a top priority."
Cramp said the remaining staff will try their best to keep the library's e-book offerings and online programming going in the coming months. They also plan to launch a new "Tell Us Your Story" program where residents can call in with anecdotes about town life or history for later publication. The library itself is closed to the public.
