Montreal’s Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough has decided to axe its public security budget for the 2018-2023 period after council rejected quotes that came in 25 per cent over estimate.
“We couldn’t responsibly accept that because it’s a significant amount of money,” explained borough Mayor Jim Beis.
“It’s over $200,000 a year and if you look at a term of four years it’s almost a million dollars of expenses for a service that is really minimally implicated in a community.”
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The current public security contract with a private company ends May 5.
Officials said they did not want to renew a contract where the borough would have to provide vehicles — as they are old and need to be updated.
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“As it is now, we felt responsibility managing the public purse. Over $200,000 for a service that isn’t very effective on the ground, we felt we needed to go back and review all of that before a formal decision is taken by council,” Beis said.
“Estimates came in much higher than we thought, so we had to take a really good look at this.”
The mayor also explained many services — such as parking and permits — have been taken over by the City of Montreal.
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“We will go back to the drawing table: what services do we need and tailor them to our community,” he told Global News.
“[We want to] maximize if we have a force in place to meet the needs of our community.”
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“Do we have it year-round? Do we have it during peak periods of the year? During special events? This is being looked at as we speak.”
Residents can still call 311 for minor problems.
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