Familiar territory

Approval of the proposed $31.6 million Police Services Board budget will have to wait until the new year to give the recently elected mayor a chance to look over the numbers.

Outgoing police chief Bob Herman presented his final budget to the board Tuesday morning, a group that included Mayor Keith Hobbs. The board meeting was the mayor’s first since sweeping to office on Oct. 25.

Hobbs said he plans to take time to scrutinize the proposed budget more closely, hoping to find efficiencies and eliminate unnecessary waste.

"With a capital budget, you don’t have much wiggle room," he said. "I’m going to be looking at all the budgets really closely and see if we can cut any waste. I’m trying to run this city as efficiently as possible for the least amount of dollars. Nine per cent of the budget is capital and 91 per cent is an operating budget."

Herman said wages and benefits were the main reason for the budget increase, as well as some additional expenses such as a one-time service fee of $25,000 for a different email system. He said he didn’t anticipate any issues to come up when the board reviews the budget.

Herman’s proposed budget represents a 1.1 per cent increase over the previous budget. He forecasted a hefty jump in rents and financial expenses, which he’s allotted an additional 23.1 per cent in 2011; personnel expenses are expected to grow by 1.9 per cent and purchased services by 13.5 per cent. Materials and supplies will drop by 2.4 per cent.

Another high priority for the board will be the development and determination of objectives and priorities, the central focus of the police services board’s three-year business plan.

Herman said they wanted to wait until a new board was selected before starting to develop the business plan, and will move forward on that front in January.

"I think it’s important that we get a business plan in place,” Herman said. “Ultimately, the board makes those decisions about the objectives and priorities and it is our job in administration to show how we’re going to achieve it."

With plans to retire in July, Herman said the board intended to have the business plan developed by April.

"I know it is close but it can be done," he said.

The board also met with Mayor Hobbs for the first time since his election victory. Hobbs, the former president of the Thunder Bay Police Association himself, said he felt nice and comfortable in his new seat.

"It’s nice to be home again," he said. "I think it will be an interesting year. We have to play in the sandbox together. We all have to get along and move this city forward. Crime initiatives are going to be one of my big issues and the budget because I ran on fiscal responsibility. I’m going to take a close look at all city’s budgets including the police budget."

Hobbs brought forward a few suggestions at the board meeting. Those suggestions included his curfew initiative, increasing community involvement in crime prevention and additional cost sharing with the OPP.

Herman said Thunder Bay police already shares some costs with the OPP in regards to equipment use and shared facilities.

Other initiatives were looked at, such as a shared tactical unit, but were eventually deemed not to be practical.