The Belleville Police Services Board will be asked to approve the 2020 budget at its meeting tomorrow morning.
The plan calls for a 6.3% increase from last year, even though the BPS’ hand is forced to spend an extra 6.5% compared to last year, because of things like increases in WSIB premiums, drops in provincial funding and other factors.
Chief Ron Gignac says overall, the BPS budget this year, which totals a bit more than $18.86 million is “leaner and less expensive” compared to other comparable police organization of the same size.
He says while operating expenses account for between 87% and 94% of the entire budget, a number of measures are taken to reduce the overall figure.
Those include changes to executive services and travel, vehicle expenses and clothing and equipment, among others.
If passed by the Police Services Board on Thursday, the budget will still have to be approved by Belleville City Council.
