Councillors have sent Hamilton police’s 2024 budget ask back to its board in the hopes of shaving off some of the additional $19.8 million the service is seeking from the city year over year.
The approved motion seeks a “review and consideration” that would cap any increase on municipal taxpayers to no more than four per cent over the coming 12 months through “efficiencies.”
Ward 2 Coun. Cameron Kroetsch, who presented the motion, insisted the ask doesn’t “signal” nor question support of the police but is simply an appeal to review a budget.
He used a 2011 decision spearheaded by Ancaster coun. Lloyd Ferguson as an example of such diligence after that council sent a 4.97-per cent increase back to the drawing board for “further consideration.”
“That’s what I’m asking for here, to send it back to the board for a more robust process and hoping I’ll get the support to do that,” Kroetsch submitted.
He went on to suggest the possibility of savings after Chief Frank Bergen insinuated during his presentation last week they could revisit strategic plan costs for savings.
Mayor Andrea Horwath was one of the supporters of the motion, which passed in a 12-to-3 vote Tuesday, but revealed her “frustration” that work on the police budget was being done at committee and not at the police board where it should be.
“The work that gets done at the police services board should be getting done at the police services board and not brought to this table,” said Horwath.
“That makes me a little uncomfortable, frankly.”
The police budget is pegged at an estimated $213 million in all for 2024, with the increase being sought representing the highest portion of the net municipal levy for 2024 at roughly 15 per cent.
It’s unclear if the police board will be able to act on the committee’s request, since it is not scheduled to meet before Feb. 15th, the date on which council plans to approve the 2024 budget.
Last week, Hamilton’s police chief said challenges connected with maintaining core services, salaries and other employee-related costs is what accounts for $13.3 million of the annual increase.
Chief Frank Bergen said largest pressure is employee-related costs accounting for 90 per cent of the total gross operating budget expenditures.
Prior to a round of budget talks last week, the city’s finance staff proposed a potential residential tax increase of 7.9 per cent after pairing down an initial September projection that was almost double that number.
It includes a 4.3 per cent levy for “vital services and strategic investments” with a 2.6 per cent impact connected to provincial legislation shifting infrastructure costs for new development to taxpayers.
On Wednesday, council voted to remove a one per cent, or $12 million “placeholder,” for future hospital redevelopments which would appear to reduce this year’s projected residential tax increase to under seven per cent.
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