By Cecilia Nasmith

In myriad ways, the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic – municipally, provincially and Federally- are bound to have an effect on the Town of Cobourg's 2020 budget.

Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin, whose long, painstaking work on the budget managed to keep tax increases within pre-announced limits, made a motion at council this week to schedule a special meeting to review these impacts to look at how they affect that budget.

The agreed-upon date and time puts the meeting at 10 a.m. May 14. The work to be done, in the words of the motion, is “to determine the status of revenues and expenses due to COVID-19, and what can be cancelled, changed or deferred to 2021 and beyond, to address the shortfall the town may experience without a municipal tax increase.”

One item on the agenda will be the correspondence received this week from Northumberland Fare Share Food Bank asking for support for its Cobourg location.

The letter from chair Helen Donovan noted that, in March 2020, they supported 969 individuals. Already since that time, Donovan noted, demand is increasing.

Though they typically receive 15,000 lb. of donated food (worth about $41,250) in Cobourg each month, they have lost many of these grocery-bin donations. Social distancing means no food drives or fundraisers are possible (like last year's golf tournament and Easter Ham ticket drive which brought in $27,590 and $6,100 respectively).

The acutely growing need means time is of the essence, and they won't have the luxury of searching around for the best buys to stretch their limited dollars.

Councillor Nicole Beatty said she had reached out to Donovan to supply those numbers. Port Hope council has just donated $5,000 to the Port Hope location and, based on the formula they used to come up with that figure, that would probably work out to a $7,500 donation for the Cobourg location.

A very worthy cause, Seguin agreed, but she suggested it be put on the agenda at the end of the May 14 meeting when they have a better idea where they stand.