THUNDER BAY -- The projected deficit in the police department is putting pressure on the city’s budget again this year but savings are proving difficult to find.
Thunder Bay Police Service Deputy Chief Andrew Hay appeared before City Council on Monday night to answer for a $300,000 negative variance in his service’s first quarter budget projection.
The police budget is the largest contributing factor to the city’s estimated $386,000 to $768,000 budget deficit by year’s end, should first quarter trends continue through 2016.
That amounts to 0.2 to 0.3 per cent of the $235-million municipal budget.
“Our budget is really not realistic. We know that,” Hay told council.
“We know we’re underfunding a number of accounts, particularly overtime accounts.”
Hay pointed out 93 per cent of the police’s budget is dedicated to inflexible salaries and benefits. When council asks police to reduce costs, he said, there is little choice but to reduce expectations for overtime hours.
That has left the police’s budget vulnerable to unexpected spikes in severe crimes such as the 11 local homicides in 2014 or the three standoffs so far this year.
Coun. Joe Virdiramo was among councilors who suggested implementing a dedicated police reserve fund would help guide a long-term budget strategy.
Virdiramo cited the purchase of a new $6-million communications system and infrastructure improvements to police headquarters that are expected to cost between $3.5 million and $4 million as evidence savings could be found if budgets had an extended vision.
“We have to come to the realization that it costs money to do this and we don’t know if we’re going to have two murders, three murders, four, five, none. How do you budget for that? The notion of a reserve fund for police is a good notion,” he said.
Hay was skeptical of the idea.
“Having a reserve fund would help but I find it difficult to say we could have a reserve fund when we don’t have adequate funding at the base level,” he said.
