Moose Jaw’s Board of Police Commissioners has approved a revised 2024 budget for the police service that will see nearly $500,000 removed from the organization’s operational funding request and pulled from another account.
The board held a special meeting at the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) headquarters on Dec. 7 to discuss the changes after receiving information from city administration that money existed in a control account that the agency could use instead of requiring more money from city council.
The police service had asked for a net operating budget increase next year of $1,181,355 (10.26 per cent). Since city administration says one percentage point of taxation next year is worth $352,449, that means the police request could have translated into a 3.35-per-cent mill rate hike.
Acting board chairman Doug Blanc explained that there is $450,514 in a major equipment control account that is unassigned. Since the police service requires new in-car reporting software and computer-assisted dispatch technology for roughly $445,000, it can use that surplus and reduce its budget request.
A police report noted that there is $1,391,758 in that control account; using it to support the software upgrades would reduce that fund to $941,244.
“The discussion (the board had in private) was fairly clear that the money was there, and rather than ask for it, again, we’ll use what’s in reserve,” said Commissioner Kim Robinson.
The board then approved motions to remove the $445,000 from the computer software category in the operating budget request, take the money from the major control account and forward the amended budget back to council.
By removing that money, the police service’s new proposed increase to council is $736,355 or 6.4 per cent. Therefore, this could translate into an overall mill rate hike of roughly 2.09 per cent — on top of city administration’s proposed 4.13-per-cent municipal tax hike — if council approves it.
The board also discussed the MJPS’s capital budget, which asks for $1 million starting in 2025 to help build a new headquarters.
Blanc pointed out that The Police Act says a municipality must supply its police agency with a building in which to operate. Moose Jaw’s council is aware of this and plans to assess all city-owned buildings next year as part of a 2024 budget initiative.
During council’s budget discussion on Dec. 6, finance director Brian Acker explained that it’s the municipality’s responsibility to plan and build a new police headquarters, said Commissioner Clive Tolley. Further, that money should be put into a city budget account and not a police service budget line.
The board then approved a motion to remove the $1 million request from the 2025 capital budget and all future years.
The next police board meeting is Tuesday, Dec. 19.
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