THUNDER BAY - Overtime, WSIB, and implementing recommendations from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director is expected to increase the Thunder Bay Police Service operational budget by more than three per cent, or $1.5 million.
Thunder Bay Police Service chief, Sylvie Hauth, presented her proposed 2020 operational budget to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board on Tuesday.
According to Hauth, the operational budget will see an increase of 3.6 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019, or $1,573,200. The total operational budget will be $44,966,700.
“It’s a difficult juggle,” Hauth said. “I’ve been trying for the last three years to do a realistic budget. When you add to the mix last year the OIPRD recommendations, which are substantial, there were 45 of them and some are very costly, it’s a really big juggle to ensure as a service we are meeting the needs and the safety of our community but also being responsible to the recommendations and ensuring we are meeting those recommendations.”
The proposed operational budget is calling for an additional $476,500 to pay for the implementation of the OIPRD recommendations that were handed down in a report by Jerry McNeilly in December 2018.
Hauth said the money will be for “continuing the work of either the current recommendations moving forward or some of the things that were not addressed last year that we are looking at moving forward on in 2020.”
According to Hauth, the other two big areas of the budget that were taken into consideration included overtime and WSIB.
“Over the last two years we have seen a deficit in those accounts so I’m trying to make a realistic budget to where we should be,” she said. “The second one is our WSIB accounts, which haven’t been increased in five years and are showing a really big increase in those accounts.”
Overtime is expected to have an unfavorable variance of $2.5 million and the 2020 operational budget will request an increase of $1.08 million.
With the city seeing five homicides, one attempted homicide, and one kidnapping in 2019 so far, Hauth said she does not expect serious crime to stop and overtime will be another significant cost for the police service in 2020.
“Drugs and gangs plays a huge aspect in our community right now,” she said. “That is my focus and my priority, but it comes with a huge cost. Those are the frustrations we have here in Thunder Bay, because we don’t get the same attention as our southern counterparts in the GTA.”
Provincial grant revenue is also expected to be reduced by $545,300 in 2020.
Hauth is proposing $623,600 in 2020 for the WSIB account, which has increased by $369,900 and has not been increased since 2015.
The increase is largely due to post traumatic stress disorder and that WSIB costs are higher for those claims than any other illness or injury.
The proposed 2020 operational budget needs to be ratified by the Police Services Board before going before Thunder Bay city council.
