Sarnia’s Police Service Board is sending its 2024 budget proposal to city council in two pieces, a $33.4-million operating budget plus a one-time $450,000 “infusion” for reserves the police service says are too low.
Sarnia’s Police Service Board is sending its 2024 budget proposal to city council in two pieces, a $33.4-million operating budget plus a one-time $450,000 “infusion” for reserves the police service says are too low.
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Without the $450,000 for reserves, the proposed police budget comes in at just less than 10 per cent more than last year. Including the one-time $450,000 for reserves makes it 11.46 per cent.
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City council is set to consider its 2024 budget, including the proposed police budget and request for reserved funding, Dec. 5.
Settling on a proposed budget was “a challenging process” during “challenging financial times,” Paul Wiersma, chairperson of the police services board, said Wednesday after the board endorsed the proposal.
“I’d love for it to be lower, but I’m going to support” the budget, he said.
“I think we need to maintain at least the essentials.”
The board backed the request for one-time funding for reserves in a separate motion.
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Back in September, the board asked police Chief Derek Davis to look for ways to reduce what was then more than a $34-million budget proposal.
“We took the direction and continued to refine our budget down to where we can survive,” Davis said.
“We have a lot of obligations, a lot of operational duties that we need to meet,” he said. “We have to be adequate and effective.”
Sarnia has a high crime severity index, which how police-reported crimes are measured in Canada, Davis said.
“We’re in the top quarter of severity” among “comparable communities,” he said.
He said the number of occurrences handled by city police increased by 50 per cent since 2012 while the number of officers grew just 12 per cent.
The board held community meetings leading up to the budget to gather comments from the public.
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“The community wants to feel safe,” board member Charlene Sebastian said in support of the budget. “This is the way that we need to do it.”
The proposed 2024 budget includes adding a canine officer and more sergeants, as well as a crime analyst, two additional communication center workers and a civilian corporate communications coordinator.
Davis said adding more sergeants will allow officers filling in as acting sergeants to return to front-line duties.
“I’m a little nervous about the reservations,” he said.
If a cruiser is destroyed in an incident, buying and equipping a new one costs about $100,000, plus the city’s police station is 36 years old and in need of attention, he said.
“We just don’t have the cupboards stored to be able to address those,” types of expenses, Davis said.
“I think we’re looking at some serious financial challenges in the years ahead,” Wiersma said.
The $30.4-million 2023 police budget was an 11.5 per cent hike over the previous year and the largest jump in the city’s history.
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