The Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) finished 2023 with an operating deficit of more than $700,000 and will have to defer some headquarters-related capital projects until it has the cash to proceed.
During its March 13 meeting, the Board of Police Commissioners voted unanimously to ask city council for permission to redirect $307,680.86 from the police service’s capital budget to cover part of the deficit.
The main capital projects the agency will defer include renovations to the second floor and replacing the elevator.
The initial year-end deficit was $724,192, but the organization used $416,511.18 from accumulated surplus to reduce that shortage, the police service said by email. It will use the redirected capital funding to address the outstanding amount.
The MJPS experienced a shortfall because of additional overtime pay and extra expenses managing and transporting prisoners to and from court, Chief Rick Bourassa explained during the meeting.
The agency annually estimates what overtime costs might be but underestimated them last year by $307,000, so it has created processes to reduce overtime where possible, including changing shift coverages, he continued. However, it can be forced to bring in extra officers to work on projects, which contributes to overtime issues.
Meanwhile, the organization — through a contractual agreement with the Commissionaires — manages prisoners within its building and at provincial court; those costs were $85,000 over budget.
“We had been tracking (the budget). We obviously didn’t track it as well as we should have,” Bourassa said. “We are putting some pieces in place for 2024 to manage those (categories) because they need to be managed and to ensure that we’re making the right decisions on some of those pieces.”
However, the police service sometimes faces unexpected incidents and must respond with extra resources, he continued. Moreover, its priority is to manage in-custody prisoners properly and safely.
The MJPS takes on all financial costs for handling prisoners in court even though that should be the provincial government’s responsibility; however, the resources are currently lacking, Bourassa said. The agency is working with the province to take over this service eventually.
“… over the past few years, knowing our financial situation, we have budgeted extremely tightly. We have not left much flex in any place … ,” he remarked. “We have no room at the end of 2024 for another overage, so we’ll be managing that very, very carefully.”
The police service contracts out its financial accounting to city hall, and during the past year, the finance department made changes to its reporting system. Under the previous system, it was not possible to break down revenue and expense categories into specific line items. Now, the new system allows for that specificity.
An operating budget report from 2023 showed the agency budgeted $800,000 for all contractual services, but by Nov. 30, it was over by $43,541; no report was available for Dec. 31.
Meanwhile, a report presented during the March police board meeting showed the agency has budgeted $344,000 this year for Commissionaire-related contractual services expenses; as of Feb. 29, the organization had spent $75,807.
What doesn’t show up in that category are officers’ salaries for when members are present in cells or court to handle high-risk prisoners, Bourassa said. The agency works with court sheriffs, but the latter are mainly assigned to provide security in the courtroom.
“It is an unpredictable line item in the budget. It is very hard to predict how many prisoners you’re going to have to look after in a year,” said board chairwoman Crystal Froese.
She reiterated that it’s the provincial government that should be taking these prisoners to court and not city police. The board — via city council’s budget approval — is OK with providing the resources and manpower to do this but would prefer if the government also provided sufficient funding.
The next police board meeting is Wednesday, April 10.
