Owen Sound city councillors may, or may not, be voting on a motion to partially “defund” the city's police service by about 30 per cent at tonight's meeting.
Coun. John Tamming gave notice at council's June 15 meeting he intends to move a motion Monday night to effectively defund police services by 30 per cent by providing notice to the Owen Sound Police Services Board that city council will not approve any future city police budget which exceeds $7.5-million.
Owen Sound's police budget in 2020 is $10.8-million, with about $8.3-million funded by property taxes.
The motion also includes direction for city staff to apply budgetary savings to tax savings, as well as enhanced supports for the homeless, those with addictions and those mental health challenges.
However, Tamming will apparently ask council tonight to defer a vote on his motion to July 13.
According to an email correspondence, Tamming wants to delay the vote as the city will be holding its first in-person council meeting on July 13 in months – since COVID-19 restrictions forced remote meetings – and he says “it is an important issue” which will benefit from an in-person discussion.
But it will be up to the rest of council to decide whether or not it will be pushed back. Councillors need to approve a motion to consent to the deferral to July 13, as it is included in the agenda at tonight's meeting. There is also one delegation relating to the “defunding” of the Owen Sound Police Service.