Police hit up city for $3.1-million budget hike

A triumvirate of police representatives will attend next week's city council meeting, passing the hat for $40.1 million in municipal tax dollars.

Police Chief Hugh E. Stevenson is expected to be there. along with John Bruno, chair of the local police services board, and Angela Davey, manager of city police finance services.

The $40.1 million they'll be hitting on the city for will pay next year's police budget, including a $3.1 million increase, representing an 8.2 per cent spending hike over the previous year.

A slide deck prepared by the trio for a city council meeting on Tuesday attributes 6.4 per cent of the 8.2 per cent increase to salaries and benefits in the collective bargaining agreement.

"The [police] board's finance committee decreased operating and capital expenditures from 5.92 per cent to 2.68 per cent," the presentation says.

"The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased two per cent over the last 12 months. We have the added cost of the new Community Safety and Policing Act to account for putting us slightly ahead of the CPI."

Chief Stevenson and his retinue will argue that the Community Safety and Policing Act has:

• imposed mandated requirements on firearms and training
• increased the transparency of policing through increased mechanisms to review police actions – adding additional investigative and legal costs
• expanded the responsibilities of special constables to allow these roles to take on duties previously only provided by sworn officers

In 2025, police are planning to continue their roll-out of their new downtown Division 2 at 180 Brock St.

Annual costs there are currently running around $430,000.

Most years, the police service's needs are passed by city council without much opposition

But could our councillors reject the police budget?

That's kind of a grey area.

If council balked at a budget approved by a local police board, the police board could prepare a revised budget or it could appeal city council's decision to Tribunals Ontario.

The Ontario Civilian Police Commission, the tribunal that until April of this year used to handle appeals of that nature, is in the process of being dissolved under the new Community Safety and Policing Act, with its past responsibilities distributed among three other tribunals.

The new legislation requires police service boards to ensure “adequate and effective policing” is provided.

Police boards must provide their municipalities with operating and capital estimates for the cost of doing that.

After reviewing the estimates, municipal councils then establish an overall budget for their police boards, but they’re not obligated to rubber-stamp the police-submitted estimates.

If a police board isn’t satisfied with a council-set budget:

• the police board and the municipality may jointly apply to the chair of the province's Arbitration and Adjudication Commission to appoint a conciliation officer to try to resolve the matter; or
• the police board may give the municipality written notice referring the matter to arbitration

In the past, few if any municipalities have succeeded in challenging police board budgets.

Next week's city council meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Sault Ste. Marie's council meetings usually happen on Mondays, but Nov. 11 is Remembrance Day.

The police budget presentation will be heard by council in a public committee-of-the-whole meeting, which will set aside usual procedural rules and allow a freer discussion.

The meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday.