Budget cuts could bring cop layoffs, chief warns
Recently settled contract sets high financial bar for 2018
Niagara’s regional council wants to limit the growth of its 2018 budget, but the politicians are already being told that might result in layoffs at the Niagara Regional Police.
This week, regional councillors passed a motion instructing council to keep any increase in the 2018 budget to 2% over the 2017 budget.
That suggested budget limit was also raised during Thursday’s police services board meeting, but outgoing Niagara Regional Police Chief Jeff McGuire said the service is “a long away away from that target.”
McGuire said the recently settled contract between the board and the NRP frontline officers union set a high financial bar for the 2018 budget.
“I think it is important that you are aware, on the record ... the starting point right now where the service stands, without even without bringing you additions and requests for extras that they require, we currently sit at 5.5%,” McGuire told the board. “Just so the board is aware, to get to 2% you looking at a 3.5% reduction of the budget, and I suspect the only way to do that is (by laying off ) people.”
McGuire said the contract mandates pay raises for police officers that, along with benefits and rising fuel prices, makes limiting budget growth to 2% problematic.
The motion to limit the police budget was put forward by board member and Port Colborne regional councillor David Barrick who said the 2% ceiling “is not written in stone,” but is a starting point to frame the police board budget process.
“This is just as guidance,” said Barrick, who conceded police brass might not recommend a 2% limit on budget growth. “We’ll see what it will look like to help shape the discussion to see if more resources are needed or not.”
Board chair and Niagara Falls regional council Bob Gale also said 2% might not be possible for the NRP, but that the board has a responsibility to try.
The board unanimously passed the motion.
The board has struggled with police finances in recent years.
In 2016, board members congratulated themselves for crafting a budget with a zero percent increase. But, according to a February 2017 board financial report, the NRP had a deficit of $3.3 million arising out of the 2016 budget.
In the fall, in a bid to reduce costs, the service implemented a spending freeze, limiting expenses to those items that were “operationally essential.”
That report, along with a March report from the Niagara Region corporate services committee, indicated the board considered a plan to use all of its reserve funds to pay for the service’s deficit. However, in anticipation of possible contract settlement payouts, the board held onto more than $2 million of that reserve money.
The board’s $137.3-million 2017 budget — an increase of 2.15 percent over 2016 — puts $2.8 million into the reserve funds to replace money used to cover the deficit.
Contract talks between the board and the police union hit an impasse and were finally settled by binding provincial arbitration in April.
The arbitrated agreement is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2016 and gives uniformed officers pay raises for the next four years.
The first retroactive raise for 2016 totals 2.3 percent with another two percent this year. In 2018, police pay goes up another 1.9 percent and then up again 1.95 percent in 2019.
The agreement means that by 2019, a first-class constable — the highest rank of constable in the service — will earn $100,311 annually.