The Belleville Police Services Board has passed the 2020 budget with an increase of 6.3%.
Due to ongoing social and physical distancing restrictions, Thursday morning’s regular meeting was held via a teleconference call.
Chief Ron Gignac says the spending plan, which totals about $18.86 million had jumped 6.5% due to an increase in non-negotiable impacts including drops in provincial funding.
Gignac says the biggest change was a spike in premiums being paid to the Workplace Safety Insurance Board.
Gignac says in order to deal with those expenses, changes were made to things like vehicle expenses, getting off-work officers back and even cutting some executive conferences.
But the Chief says areas where no concessions will be made are in mental health and other supports for officers and staff.
The budget still has to be approved by Belleville Council, with Mayor Mitch Panciuk noting that the city’s budget process is being delayed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
