Thunder Bay police come in under-budget for 2024

THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay Police Service was in the black for the 2024 fiscal year.

At the Thunder Bay Police Service Board meeting on Tuesday, the director of finance and facilities, Dawn Paris, reported the service had a $300,000 positive variance for the year ended on Dec. 31, 2024.

Net operating expenses came in at $56.9 million compared to the budget of $57.2 million.

What made the difference in the budget was $300,000 in savings in fuel and vehicle maintenance expenses, most of which were from having repair services done in-house rather than being outsourced.

These services included regular preventative inspections like oil changes, brakes, suspensions, minor body repairs and paint, and minor engine and drive train repairs.

“It really came down to restructuring of our garage,” said Chief Darcy Fleury, adding police vehicles do have many miles on them and it’s been beneficial to the service to have many repairs done in-house.

Personnel services came in over-budget, with unfavourable variances of $1.7 million overtime costs and $500,000 in WSIB expenses. However, that variance is recovered through user fees, resulting in a net revenue of $100,000, and another $700,000 saving from unpaid wages and benefits due to vacancies.

Savings were also found in in computer-related equipment and software expenses because of lower-than-expected fees and modernizing the internal phone systems.

The police service was also able to receive about $700,000 more than expected in provincial grants, including the Proceeds of Crime grants and the Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension grant.

The intelligence unit also received funding for initiatives targeting drugs and gang activity.