Healthy level of scrutiny on region’s police budget

It started as a routine vote on a routine issue.

Regional councillors were asked April 24 to approve the 2023 financial statements so that the staff in the finance department could prepare official audited statements for that year.

But something was different this time.

The statements from the Waterloo Regional Police, which are part of the region’s statements too, because the region pays the bills, continued to bother Coun. Rob Deutschmann.

“I’m not going to support the acceptance of the financial results with respect to the Waterloo Regional Police Service,” he told other councillors at a regional finance and administration committee meeting.

The reasons included accounting practices that Deutschmann questions, including moving surplus funds into reserves before the end of the fiscal year. This makes the surplus look smaller at year-end.

He also has long opposed the payment of salaries for dozens of additional officers that the police service wants to hire, but can’t because of the shortage of qualified candidates.

He has no problem with hiring more officers, but said regional taxes shouldn’t be paying salaries of people who aren’t hired yet — especially when the region has so many other urgent spending priorities, and when tax increases are such a burden to the public.

Deutschmann has raised the same questions before, but the majority of councillors haven’t pushed the issue further.

This time, they did, by eight votes to six, and the motion to approve the statements failed.

“We need to be looking at this a little more carefully,” said Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett.

The vote was clearly a surprise for some.”This is unanticipated,” said Regional Chair Karen Redman before calling a five-minute recess.

When the meeting resumed, chief financial officer Craig Dyer explained that the failure of the motion would interfere with the ability of the regional municipality to proceed with its own audited financial statements for 2023, and if those aren’t filed on time it could lead to the provincial government withholding funds.

He also clarified that the regional government doesn’t have the authority to change the police board statements.

But if that’s the case, some councillors wondered, why ask for a vote to approve them?

It all got sorted out, in the end. Police agreed to respond in writing to questions from councillors.

“The reality is that when we don’t have officers to fill the spots we still have need for officers, and what that turns into is overtime,” said police board chair Ian McLean in an interview later.

Regarding accounting practices such as when surplus funds are moved to reserves, “there’s nothing that isn’t normal,” McLean said. Regional and police services staff work together on these procedures.

Councillors learned that the shortage of officers means the overtime budget was overspent by $5 million in 2023, which itself represents the pay of 44 full time officers.

“Half (50%) of all overtime usage occurs within front-line patrol units, followed by Investigative Services, and the 9-1-1 Public Safety Communications Centre,” the report to councillors said.

Later, Deutschmann said the extra information had gone a long way to answering his concerns.

It all illustrates the delicate balance between police boards and municipal councils.

According to the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, councillors can’t tell police to spend more on, say, investigating crimes and less on neighbourhood patrols. But they can set a limit on how much they can afford to spend on policing overall.

They also have the ability to set the timetable for estimates to be presented so that the discussion can start earlier.

The police budget for 2024 is $250 million. That’s a lot for the municipal council to raise, and it means less ability to achieve other important goals, like easing homelessness or keeping property tax increases low.

With their short moment of rebellion, regional councillors established their proper right to question, scrutinize and bring their perspective to this fundamentally important part of life in Waterloo Region.

The police budget for 2024 is $250 million. That’s a lot for the municipal council to raise, and it means less ability to achieve other important goals, like easing homelessness or keeping property tax increases low