London police are seeking almost $4 million more for their budget next year.
It’s shaping up to be city hall’s largest expense and it could force taxes to rise.
The police unveiled their 2014 draft budget Thursday and it is a $3.8 million increase over last year.
Mounting personnel and salary costs are driving the draft budget to $93.4 million.
The costs linked to arbitrated contracts are blamed for a projected increase of 4.2 per cent next year.
“If we don’t get some discipline around our cost structure, we are actually putting our public safety in peril because there’s not gong to be the mechanisms to support it,” says Paul Paolatto, the police board budget chairperson.
More than 92 per cent of the police budget goes directly to salaries and benefits and Chief Brad Duncan says that leaves nothing left to cut.
He's prepared for a rough ride selling another budget to council this winter.
“The public has to be heard as well and to arbitrarily reduce a budget because of the size of the budget without looking at the consequences, I think that’s where we have to have a conversation,” he says.
The budget increase isn't sitting well at city hall. “When I hear a number like 4.2 [per cent]…it’s essentially twice the rate of inflation and by definition, that’s not sustainable,” says Councillor Matt Brown.
The police are in a much different financial bind and the only way to cut costs is unacceptable to Councillor Denise Brown.
“There’s nothing else to cut except – if we have to, personnel – and we don’t want to do that because safety is important.”
The police board won't finalize the numbers until November, but the chief predicts they won't likely change very much.
Council will have the final say on how much money police receive during budget deliberations early next year.
