Municipal taxpayers forked out more than $125,000 in additional costs for unsanctioned events associated with the University of Guelph’s Homecoming weekend in September.
The largest chunk of that, about $113,000, comes from additional policing efforts, as previously reported. City officials have now released information about increased bylaw enforcement and fire service costs, which come in at about $13,330.
That, explained Scott Green, the city’s manager of corporate and community safety, includes additional staff and/or overtime costs.
No additional expenses associated with Homecoming were experienced by Guelph Transit or Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Services.
“A few of our departments were able to manage the weekend within the planned staffing complement and therefore did not incur additional costs,” Green wrote in an email.
Given the pandemic’s impact on both the crowds and operations in recent years, Green said it would be difficult to provide comparable cost estimates.
