City Coun. Terry Whitehead called it a "palatable" budget, but the police service board plans to keep studying the draft budget given to them by Hamilton police until the new year.
'We're not going to have the circus we had last year.'- Board chair Bernie Morelli
Police Chief Glenn De Caire presented a proposed 2014 budget of $153 million, which is an increase of $4.18 million, up just 2.98 per cent over last year's. De Caire said it was "not possible" to deliver the zero per cent increase council has called for. The outgoing police chief showed a series of declining crime statistics, including numbers for violence crime, but cautioned the city still has a "long way to go."
BUDGET AT A GLANCE
$153 million- Total estimated expenditures for 2014
$144 million- Total amount of that budget to be raised from taxes
$8.85 million- Other revenue sources
88%- Proportion of police budget eaten up by salaries and benefits
2.98%- increase over 2013 budget
15- The number of new officers hired in 2013 now on the payroll for 2014
0- The number of new officers to be hired in 2014
During Monday evening's meeting at city hall, several members of the police services board expressed their desire to avoid an all-out budget conflict like last year — "We're not going to have the circus we had last year," said board chair Bernie Morelli — but they did raise some questions about how De Caire only needed a 2.8 per cent increase.
The main points of contention were how the police service used $704,000 "uploaded" from the provincial government to help the city with its court costs. Coun. Terry Whitehead asked De Caire how he planned to spend the provincial money.
De Caire said the funds are charged against the "global expenses" of the budget and that they're not earmarked for anything specific.
Coun. Lloyd Ferguson said he could sense a "sigh of relief come over the city" as the police released its modest request, but wondered how much of the police reserves were borrowed to make the budget worked. Budget documents show money has been taken from several reserves to fund the operating budget.
De Caire said the reserves aren't what he would characterize as "healthy," and said it's not ideal to fund the budget with police funds.
"Funding the operating budget through reserves is not a recommended practice," De Caire said.
"I absolutely agree, and I want to make sure we haven't done that to get to 2.8 per cent," Ferguson replied.
After some discussion on the matter, the board opted to keep looking at the budget before putting it before city council. The board is schedule to reconvene on Jan. 21 to discuss the budget. If it passes the board then, Chief De Caire is set to present the budget to the rest of city council on Jan. 23, when it will likely be voted on.
While council can decide whether to reject or accept the budget, it cannot change it or change who money is spent within it.
Hamilton police officers Mark Morelli and Chantelle Wilson caught the world's attention last week as a video of them arresting a woman went viral online. Today, the partners were given a Chief's PRIDE award by De Caire.
Morelli called the outpouring of support from the public "the greatest Christmas gift we could receive," and said he was accepting the award on behalf of all police officers in the city.
His message for the public: "We, the police, are people too," he said. "Please remember that."
Morelli's father, board chair Bernie Morelli, looked on during the ceremony. After his son was lauded by councillors, a smiling Coun. Morelli said all the credit should go to Mark's mother.
Sgt. Scott Moreton was also given a PRIDE award — which stands for Person who is Really Interested in Delivering Excellence — for helping contain a drunk and unruly passenger on a recent Air Canada flight.
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