Belleville Police Services Board member, Councillor Jack Miller.(Photo/Quinte News).
More detail is needed before the Belleville Police Services Board sets a budget for this year.
Chief of Police Ron Gignac presented a draft budget showing a 2.9% increase over last year’s budget.
However, half of the traditional annual one million dollar transfer to a new police headquarters reserve fund was not included in the budget.
Police board member, Councillor Jack Miller convinced the rest of the board that reserve transfer should go back up to one million dollars, saying the growing reserve will do more than just pay for construction and soft costs.
If $500,000 is added to the proposed budget without any cutbacks, the policing costs in Belleville would increase by almost 6%.
Meanwhile, Chief Gignac said “infrastructure technology” spending is causing a considerable increase in the proposed capital budget. The Chief said the phone system was old and obsolete and needed to be replaced as soon as possible.
A detailed list of capital projects will come to a Police Services Board meeting in the near future. The 2017 budget is expected to be passed at that time.
