BY LAUREL MYERS
The Greater Sudbury Police Service is projecting a 4.8 percent increase to their annual budget for 2008.
Original examination of the budget earlier in the year had the increase set at 5.1 percent from the 2007 budget. However, after rigorous number crunching, the police service brought the overall base budget to $40,676,725, 4.8 percent above the previous year’s.
“Each year, city council asks if there are any possible budget reduction options...we have already taken that step in anticipation of that question,” said Police Chief Ian Davidson. “We go through the budget reduction process every single year and each year we come out with what I consider to be a very accountable and fiscally responsible budget that will not change our impact on the services we deliver.”
The increase to the budget comes as a result of inflation in the price of gasoline, hiking the budget by $47,000. Additional funds have also been allotted for the annualized occupancy cost of the Lionel E. Lalonde Centre in Azilda and energy costs.
On the revenue side of the budget, the Greater Sudbury Police Service has received provincial grants for a safer communities project – through the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services - 1,000 officers will be added across Ontario, 14 of which are allotted for Sudbury – as well as community policing partnerships, the bail safety program and the R.I.D.E program.
The additional officers will be deployed as a way to increase police visibility. Davidson explained because Sudbury has the largest land mass serviced province-wide and a widely dispersed population density, the response time and visibility of the police service is impacted.
According to Rayudu Koka, vice chair of the Greater Sudbury Police Service Board, all excessive costs have been eliminated and the 2008 budget has been brought down to the bare bones.
“There’s no more meat or fat to be cut from anywhere,” he said.
Ward 7 Councillor Russ Thomspson, who sits on the police board, commended the police service for their proficiency in developing a realistic and achievable budget, while still maintaining a high level of service to the community. “The purse strings are being watched tightly but it’s not jeopardizing services,” Thompson said. “As a matter of fact, they’re getting better services.”
The police budget still requires approval from city council. It is scheduled to be presented to council at their Nov. 27 meeting.
