Council is asking the police services board to make a second round of budget cuts. Pictured: Niagara Regional Police Chief Bill Fordy. Photo Credit: NRP.
Niagara Regional Council and the Police Services Board are in a spat over this year’s police budget.
Chief Bill Fordy initially requested a 15.1 per cent budget hike from Council for the Region’s 2025 police budget.
Council rejected the 15.1 per cent increase and asked Fordy and the board to make cuts, granting the Niagara Police Service a 13.18 per cent increase instead.
Fordy and the board accommodated those requests.
However, Council then came back to the board and asked for an additional round of cuts.
But Fordy and his fellow police service board members are refusing to cut further.
Citing a rise in crime, board members insisted that the police budget had already been reduced and the Region’s residents could not afford a further budget cut for the sake of public safety.
Part of the initial budget reduction saw Fordy, and the board, agree to stagger the hiring of 33 new police officers over the coming year instead of hiring them all at once. That produced over $3.6 million in savings.
But Council is now asking for another $1 million in budget cuts.
The police board voted overwhelmingly to reject Council’s request to alter its proposed 2025 budget again.
Former Wainfleet Mayor Kevin Gibson, a member of the board, pointed to surging crime in justifying his vote against Council’s wishes. He noted that more officers are needed urgently, and additional budget cuts would mean reducing the number of new hires.
The Niagara Regional Police “is going to have to grow immensely,” argued Gibson. Staggering hiring over the coming year will save roughly $3.6 million, but Council is now asking for another $1 million in savings.
It is quite likely that the number of new hires would have to be reduced to accommodate Council’s request.
Board members are warning that any further cuts, which could mean delays in new hires, would lead to slower response times.
Several board members pointed to incidents of domestic violence in justifying the need for additional hires.
Fordy noted that by staggering new hires NRP is already being stretched thin. This extra round of cuts would take things from bad to worse.
“I’m concerned that right now we’re not adequate and effective in terms of our response,” Fordy told the St. Catharines Standard.
Council will now have to decide how to respond to the board’s rejection of its request for additional budget cuts.
The final police budget will be set by Council on Dec. 12.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as 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.
