Niagara Region’s Police Service Board met last week to talk about next year’s budget, and the elephant in the room is the 3.5 per cent property tax increase limit that Niagara Regional Council tentatively committed to earlier this spring.
Police Chief Bill Fordy made comments about the budget and the Region’s property tax increase target to board members at a June 26 meeting, outlining the contents of a new report that looks at measures the Niagara Regional Police would have to take to cut costs to meet the lower spending targets Regional Council is aiming for this year.
This includes taking 50 officers off the front line, according to Fordy.
The aim of Regional Council is to limit spending increases for agencies and boards, including the Niagara Regional Police, to 3.5 per cent, which would be dramatically lower than increases in recent years.
“Let me be very clear,” said Fordy. “At a time when the province of Ontario and the government of Canada are actively investing in public safety, a 3.5 per cent guidance essentially only amounts to a defunding of the police.”
Last year, the Region approved a 13.2 per cent increase to the Niagara Regional Police budget, so a 3.5 per cent increase would be a dramatic departure from the approach Regional Council took last year.
However, with an election coming up next fall, Regional Councillors are keen to get the property tax increase for 2026 down and are aiming to do so through limiting spending across the board.
It remains to be seen whether the Region will stick to the 3.5 per cent goal, and officials like Fordy will be doing everything they can to see the Region commit to spending more money, which in turn will mean a bigger tax hike.
Fordy noted in his statement that the Niagara Regional Police staggered the implementation of several programs last year to try to get last year’s budget increase down. But that means the full cost of those programs will be included in the 2026 budget.
And the Niagara Regional Police are also looking for “service enhancements.”
“As it stands today, the base budget needed to maintain our current level of service is estimated at eight per cent,” Fordy continued. “That is just to keep pace, not to grow, or to improve. By contrast, the 3.5 per cent guidance rate actually equates to a 4.5 per cent reduction to our current budget.”
“We want ensure there’s no misunderstanding by Council or the public,” added Fordy. “3.5 guidance is not an increase. It is not sustainable. And it does not reflect the realities of a growing and increasingly complex policing environment.”
A final draft of the Region’s proposed Niagara Regional Police budget will be discussed by Regional Council by November during its 2026 budget deliberation process.
There will surely be a back-and-forth between the Region and the Police Services Board before the final number is decided upon.
“While we understand the complexity of budget planning, public safety leaves little room for error,” Fordy concluded.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
