POLICE SPENDING
Detailed budget released to the public
For the first time ever, Windsor police have publicly released a line-by-line breakdown of their budget — chronicling everything from salaries to car wash costs — giving in-depth insight into how they're spending almost $112 million this year.
Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin, also a police board member, said the long-overdue details are vital for ensuring citizens know where a quarter of their taxes goes. Earlier this year, councillors approved giving Windsor police $94.2 million, about 25 per cent of the city's overall budget.
“It's not just an issue of police trust, because I think that's going to be there for sure,” said Bortolin, who pushed for the details to be released. “But I think, fiscally, our responsibility to the citizens is to say this is how much we're paying and this is where it's going.
“They have a right to know, they have a right to understand where those costs are being broken down and they have a right to comment on those.”
Before the documents were revealed during Thursday's police board meeting, the department's annual spending only appeared publicly with little detail as line items in the city budget.
Bortolin said the need for more information became obvious earlier this year when city council debated that budget.
“Artcite, which gets $10,000 from us, had something like a 27or 30-page submission,” he said. “The police had a three-page submission with one page of numbers, and I think it had nine lines in total.
“How much sense does that make? We're talking $5,000 to $10,000 for a tiny arts organization and we do all this work breaking it down. Then here's $94 million and we don't give anybody any breakdown. So I think it's just the right thing to do.”
The breakdown, available in the Windsor police board agenda, shows an approved net budget of $94.2 million with total actual expenditures of $111.5 million.
There are $17.3 million in revenues, including nearly $6.9 million in grants from other levels of government and $1.8 million for policing services related to the casino.
The 2021 budget increased by $1.7 million over last year. The additional funds will be used to hire three information technology specialists to help with data-based crime prevention and improving operational and strategic planning, according to the report.
Some of the new money will also go toward improving diversity, “increased wellness of members” and implementing recommendations of the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.
Salaries and benefits, costing $98.7 million, take up 88 per cent of expenditures. The police budget lists $67.3 million in base salaries plus $1.7 million in overtime costs, among many other expenses, including uniforms, training and Workers' Compensation. According to a 2020 annual report, the Windsor Police Service has 501 sworn officers, 150 civilian members and five cadets.
Bortolin said such details help foster debate about how resources are allocated.
“In that salary category, instead of hiring five police officers, should we be talking about hiring eight social workers that work for police?” he said. “Some of those conversations can and potentially should start happening.”
The second-largest expense is $5.2 million for purchased services, including $20,000 for fleet car washes, $87,121 for prisoner custody, $103,011 for office supplies, $209,610 for cellphones and $289,000 for travel.
Most police services in Ontario already provide detailed budget breakdowns. Bortolin said Windsor is one of the last because no one on city council or the police board had previously requested it.
There was no resistance from police administration after he asked, but Bortolin said it was still a lengthy process. Some budget lines relating to specific tools for investigations and “operational specifics” were left out to avoid letting criminals in on police tactics, he said.
“They have to feel confident that they're not giving away any information that they consider sensitive, which is fair,” he said.
“The initial document that I wanted released, in all honesty, was a lot longer. But this is still really good.”
I think, fiscally, our responsibility to the citizens is to say this is how much we're paying and this is where it's going.