Falling fuel costs rescue police budget
A drop in gas prices is saving Ottawa’s police $55,000 a month, says police services board chair and city councillor Eli El-Chantiry.
El-Chantiry said the police service doesn’t buy its gasoline in bulk. Instead, it gets a discount of six cents a litre at the pump. The department uses about 230,000 litres a month and had budgeted for gasoline costing $1.28 a litre. It now costs just over $1 a litre. “We have to provide a balanced budget by the end of the year, so it is a welcome relief,” El-Chantiry said.
Locally, the situation is unique to the police. Other city fleet vehicles fuel up at 23 refuelling stations and rarely buy gasoline at gas stations, said city treasurer Marian Simulik. The city covers about 75 per cent of its annual fuel needs at a bulk price.
El-Chantiry said the savings are desperately needed after the service ran up a $225,000 overtime bill during the three weeks after gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial and then stormed Parliament Hill.
El-Chantiry expects that demands on Ottawa police will increase next year as security is tightened. A $2-million annual federal subsidy to offset additional policing costs in Ottawa is slated to run out at end of December.
El-Chantiry said the police services board has asked for a detailed staff report on extra duties Ottawa police are required to per- form compared with other cities in Canada. These include providing security and traffic control at demonstrations and police escorts for visiting dignitaries, he said.
El-Chantiry said he is hopeful the federal funding will be renewed. The city has yet to put in a request, he said.
A spokesman for federal Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney couldn’t immediately say Tuesday if the funding would be renewed.