THUNDER BAY - The Thunder Bay Police Service has started its fiscal year in the black, but ongoing investigations including several homicides and continuous threats against Hammarskjold High School could quickly push the budget back into the red.
Police Chief Sylvie Hauth presented the first quarter variance report to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board during a meeting on Tuesday.
The 2019 Police Service budget of $43.3 million or $10.8 million per quarter finished the first quarter on March 31 with a surplus of $61,073 or .14 per cent favourable.
“When we look at the beginning of the year, we’ve had four homicides, one attempt, we have had threats to high schools, there’s a lot of things that have kept us busy in the first quarter,” Hauth said. “We know that if we keep up this pace, our overtime budget will cause us to be in a negative variance closer to the end of the year.”
According to Hauth, the labour account is expected to be under budget by $793,200 by year’s end, while the overtime budget will see an unfavourable variance of $659,000.
Hauth added she is working on how much responding to and investigating the threats against Hammarksjold High School is costing the Police Service. She did not have a dollar figure for how much each incident costs, saying every incident has been different.
“I can tell you that we are very diligent in terms of what we are doing,” Hauth said. “It is a frustrating process. You can appreciate that the information being anonymous there are a lot of hoops and legalities that we have to go through. The frustration is high. I have lost sleep. I can tell you that this is at the top of our priority."
Some of the unfavourable variances in the budget include equipment maintenance, radio and radar maintenance, computer software, and general expenses.
However, the travel and training account is expected to have a positive variance of $32,500 and the fringe benefits accounts are projected to have a surplus of $451,200 and paid duty wages a surplus of $275,900.
With the release of the provincial budget last week, money has been made available for police services, specifically in terms of fighting the growing guns and gangs issue, but Hauth said she does not yet know how much of that money Thunder Bay will see.
“Toronto had money prior to the budget, Ottawa in this budget was earmarked $2 million specifically for their service,” she said. “We are basically lumped into the general pot that has been earmarked for guns and gangs.”
Hauth has reached out to the provincial and federal government for assistance in tackling the guns and gang issue in the city but has not yet received and firm commitments.
“We are still waiting to see how that will be allocated and what portion will be to Thunder Bay,” she said. “We have been very vocal and very active in requesting specific funding.”
