City’s force left 2016 with deficit of $6.4M

Despite early estimates to break even, the Ottawa Police Service ended 2016 with a $6.4-million deficit.

The citywide reserve fund will pay for the added costs to operate the service, says a report to the police board set to be received at Monday’s monthly meeting.

Pressures from police operating costs account for less than half of the deficit.

The deficit in police operations was about $2.7 million last year and the force says a good chunk of that came from paying out insurance and legal settlements, “several costly and unexpected member retirements,” a blown overtime budget and continued revenue shortfalls from collision reporting centres, which were once expected to be major revenue generators.

In October 2016, police expected to overspend on overtime by $2.4 million by the end of the year. That ballooned, however, to $3.3 million mainly because of “staff shortages throughout the organization.”

A record year of 24 homicides and 68 reported incidents of gunfire also caused investigative units to log extra hours, the report to the police board says. But managers froze discretionary spending in the last quarter of 2016 to try to curb costs. That produced savings, the force says, and the OT costs only resulted in adding $300,000 to the deficit. Police also experienced a $3.7-million deficit in their “taxation accounts” — where money collected from property taxes pools — creating a combined operating and taxation deficit of $6.4 million.

The force had to wear its share of a citywide deficit in the tax account, owing largely to more tax rebates and property assessment appeals won in 2016.

The report to the board also outlines for the first time the force’s tracking of specific cost-saving “efficiencies.”

Paid-duty contracts brought in $820,000 of added revenue, which the force is using to offset its costs. “Payroll overpayment reduction” also brought in $784,300. And an “office supplies” line item valued at $150,000, rounds out the top three on that efficiency list.

In December, the police force was abuzz with a maxed-out office supply budget that resulted in units bartering for paper and employees taking up donations of pens to send to patrol officers.