It’s not pennies from heaven, but Barrie taxpayers could get a $1.2-million break on city spending this year.
On the very eve of city council giving final approval to its 2024 operating budget, which includes policing, Barrie Police Service say a recent financial review found a $1.2-million accumulated surplus that spanned several years. Police officials say it was no longer needed and should be returned to the city.
Police say this reserve was unallocated and, as a result, the police board has advised the city these funds will be returned to the municipality and, in future years, any surplus will be addressed within the same budget year.
Barrie treasurer and chief financial officer Craig Millar said the city’s financial policy framework has guidelines on allocating any year-end city surpluses.
“The policy recommends allocating funds to capital and stabilization reserves,” he said. “Council, through the annual year-end report, ultimately approves how surpluses are allocated. The boards of the services partners (such as police) would approve how they allocate their funds.”
The city does have a tax-rate stabilization reserve which can be used to lower property taxes, if council so decides.
Neither Mayor Alex Nuttall nor Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson, council’s two representatives on the Barrie Police Services Board, were available for comment Tuesday prior to publication of this story.
Michael Speers, a longtime Barrie resident and critic of city police spending, looked at the other side of the surplus.
“This is more than a million dollars that could have been spent by the city over the years on services the people in our community actually need,” he said. “The Barrie police ask for budget increases year after year, but then show a disregard for how it is managed.”
Speers is scheduled to make a deputation against the approval of the police budget at Wednesday night’s council meeting.
Police board chairman Greg Ferguson was also unavailable for comment Tuesday.
City council will consider final approval Wednesday to an operating/capital budget, which includes policing costs, calling for a 4.82 per cent tax increase to homeowners, which equals $228 more this year on a typical city home assessed at $368,000. Last year, the tax bill was $4,724 on a typical home assessed at $365,040.
The police surplus could lower the tax rate, depending on what council decides to do with it.
A $3.205-million increase, or a decrease, in city spending equals a one per cent impact on Barrie property taxes this year.
Police spending is budgeted at $67.5-million this year, a 6.78 per cent or almost a $4.3-million increase from last year, up from $63.24 million.
Of the 6.78 per cent budget increase, 5.3 per cent is for salaries and benefits alone this year.
Salaries, benefits and overtime are estimated to be 95 per cent of this year’s police budget.
It replaces six officers a year during 2024 and 2025, and includes four new civilian positions — a privacy and access clerk, a digital evidence management administrator, what’s called an organizational wellness administrative assistant and a communicator for next generator 911, which allows for additional details in emergency situations, such as the use of video.
The 2024 police budget also contains money for technology and infrastructure. This includes software to support body-worn cameras, digital evidence management, closed-circuit television cameras, automated licence-plate recognition, next-generation 911 implementation as well as information technology infrastructure and security.
There’s also money in the budget for Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) mental stress injury claim costs. Police officers will experience 400 to 600 traumatic events throughout their career, according to city police, compared to three to four such events for an average citizen.
Council will also consider a motion Wednesday night that the police board work with members of the city’s community safety committee to identify three to five performance goals reflecting key strategic objectives of the city and the police by May, and provide a status update by October.
A new five-year contract, with average annual wage increases of 3.5 per cent, was announced earlier this month between Barrie Police Association and the police board, also has an impact on the budget.
The association represents 250 uniform and 125 civilian members of the Barrie Police Service. The previous five-year contract expired on Dec. 31, 2023. The new contract runs from Jan. 1, 2024 until Dec. 31, 2028.
The new deal also includes an increase in wellness supports and provides a small premium paid to front-line officers who work 12-hour rotating shifts. Provisions within the collective agreement will give police the ability to explore expanding the use of special constables throughout the community, including downtown Barrie and in neighbourhoods and areas that require specialized community engagement.
Police spending is historically the largest portion of Barrie’s annual operating budget. In 2023 it was approximately 22.1 per cent. It was 21.8 per cent in 2022, 22.2 per cent in 2021.
