THUNDER BAY - The Thunder Bay Police Service finished a second quarter in a row with a very slight positive variance, but police chief Sylvie Hauth continued to express concern over financial challenges to come at year’s end.
During the Thunder Bay Police Services Board meeting on Tuesday, Hauth presented a .6 per cent favourable budget variance, or $253,100.
The $43 million Police Service operating budget was approved by council last February. A positive variance of .14 per cent or a surplus of $61,073 was reported at the end of the first quarter.
“Though we are in the green, I want to highlight to the board this is for projections for the end of the year and there are accounts we will need to look at in terms of the 2020 budget,” Hauth told the board.
According to Hauth’s report, by year’s end several accounts are forecasted to have an unfavourable variance, including the overtime account by $884,800 due to five homicides in the first two quarters of 2019, one attempted homicide, and the ongoing threats directed at Hammarskjold High School.
“We had significant increases in overtime costs from first quarter into the second quarter,” Hauth said.
Labour accounts are forecasted to be under budget by $730,000 at the end of the year, with only salary regular and paid duty wages coming in with positive variances.
“The lieu time account has had additional cost added ($85,000) in anticipation of a lieu time payout later this year,” Hauth’s report reads. “This is in response to an outstanding lieu time grievance which must be addressed by administration.”
An increasing number of officers who have made claims with the Workers Safety and Insurance Board and high premiums paid out for post-traumatic stress disorder claims is expected to result in an unfavorable variance of $239,000 in that account, which Hauth said is already underfunded.
“We pay a premium for officers who are off on WSIB,” Hauth said. “What’s happened over the years is there is a presumptive legislation with respect to PTSD and we pay a higher percentage of officers that are off.
“Based on that, I see a trend in the last few years that we are paying a little bit higher through that account and I am expecting an unfavorable variance at the year-end of about $239,000 with respect to those fees.”
The Police Service pays a 32 per cent premium on PTSD claims, which is higher than any other claims.
“We should not be paying higher premiums for PTSD claims than other claims,” Hauth said. “That needs to change at a much higher level.”
Criminal record check fees increasing
The public will also be expected to pay a little more when requesting a criminal record check for employment.
Insp. Dan Taddeo presented a recommendation to the Thunder Bay Police Service Board to increase the fee for a Criminal Records Search for all purposes except volunteers be increased from $55 to $60.
Last year the Thunder Bay Police Service began working with the Cobourg Police Service to process criminal record checks.
This partnership with the Cobourg Police Service reduced the workload on the local service, which processed more than 6,000 criminal record searches a year, and reduced the wait time for the public from weeks to days.
“This recommendation recovers some of the costs associated with transferring the processing of Criminal Records Searches from the Thunder Bay Police Service to the Cobourg Police Service,” the recommendation read.
“This amendment will recover some of the costs associated with providing superior customer service by ensuring a timely response to criminal records checks for employment while not transferring undue hardship onto those who are volunteering.”
Taddeo said Thunder Bay will be in line with police services in Toronto and Ottawa in terms of fees, though higher than smaller services.
The Police Services Board approved the increase. The change in fees will take effect on Sept. 3, 2019.
