Owen Sound's 2020 budget has been officially approved. But, not without a whole lot of noise about the police services budget first.
After several motions, amendments and votes Monday night council approved the city's budget as presented, but also resolved to seek a joint-meeting with the police services board prior to budget deliberations in 2021.
This came after a motion was approved to pass the city's operating and capital budgets as presented without the police services budget included.
Coun. John Tamming requested the amendment to remove the police budget because he said it doesn't address structural problems with service.
Tamming then moved a motion to once again send the police budget back to the police services board to find further cost savings requested by council.
“We only have two options in this town when it comes to reducing emergency services budgets,” said Tamming in an interview. “One option is to enter into dialogue with the police and to try to get them to voluntarily find the hundreds of thousands of dollars we can find to reduce that expense. We can have a dialogue. Or, we can threaten as we did a few years ago to bring in the (Ontario Provincial Police) costing.”
In budget deliberations last month, city council sent the police operating budget back to the police services board for a second look.
Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy, who sits on the city's police board, said a line-by-line review was undertaken of the department's 2020 budget to find places to cut.
The police budget hike brought back to council Monday night was down to 1.74 per cent — compared to 2.4 per cent as presented in December 2019 — to a net total of $7.48-million in 2020 for police services.
Tamming's motion to send the police budget back to the police services board to find more cost savings was defeated in a 5-3 vote. It found support from Deputy Mayor Brian O'Leary and Coun. Brock Hamley.
Coun. Travis Dodd then moved a motion to accept the police budget as presented that carried. He also moved a motion that was approved for city council to seek a joint-meeting with the police services board at a future date, in advance of 2021 budget deliberations.
Owen Sound Police Chief Craig Ambrose said in an interview there is a formal protocol agreement between the city and police services board that allows for two meetings per year. The police chief noted he is always looking for cost savings.
“I have no issue at all having a meeting where we can discuss things with the (police) board and council present,” Ambrose said. “I think it's always beneficial because we can straighten out some of the misconceptions and point out where our costs are and (why).”
City Manager Wayne Ritchie suggested council come up with a budget number it wants to hit to provide the police services board as a target.
In an interview, Coun. Tamming said he intends to bring forward a motion next month to start another OPP costing review. To date, he has not given any formal notice of motion to council.
In December 2017, city council — prior to Tamming's election — decided against a switch to OPP after a costing review which included a report from Levack Management Consulting Group that forecast the 10-year price tag of provincial police at $82.9-million, slightly lower than the estimated $84.7-million cost of Owen Sound Police.
“The issue is: Can we save the kind of coin that I think is out there to be saved? And do we have the political will to do it,” Tamming wondered. “Unfortunately, time and time again over the last five or six years, we have just not as a council been willing to bite that bullet.”
Lost in all the discussion over the police department's budget was the approval of the city's lowest tax levy increase in more than a decade.
The city budget for 2020 as adopted by council will see a total tax levy increase of $810,000. It is a $71-million spending plan that includes $48-million in operating expenses and a $23-million capital program.
The total tax levy required to fund it is $30.8-million, after grants and other sources of revenue.
According to a report by the city's Director of Corporate Services Kate Allan, the average residence assessed at $219,966 in 2019 would see an increase of just over $63 in its total annual tax bill in 2020.
The combined tax levy increase, including both the projected county and school board levies, is 1.68 per cent.
A city budget breakdown document shows the police service comprises about 28 per cent of Owen Sound's total operating budget. Public Works and Engineering is about 21 per cent, the fire department is 18 per cent, governance and administration makes up 14 per cent, facilities and community services is 14 per cent while the Owen Sound and North Grey Union Public Library and Tom Thomson Art Gallery are three per cent and two per cent of the city's operating budget respectively.