Ottawa police draft budget calls for 2.9% increase

The Ottawa Police Servicehas tabled its draft budget for 2022asking for a 2.86 per cent tax increase a move sure to disappoint activists calling for police budgets to be frozen or even reduced.

The budget calls for an additional $14 million for a totaloperating budget of $346.5 million, as well as $23 million for capital costs.

"The 2022 budget process has been the number one priority for the Ottawa Police Service over the last 12 months," Chief Peter Sloly told the Ottawa Police Services Board on Tuesday morning. "This has been the longest, most intense and most in-depth budget process to date."

The chief acknowledged the community wants changes in policing, which he says he supports. But, he said, freezing the police budget would not allow the service to invest in changes needednor would it allow Ottawa police to meet its obligations under the Police Services Act.

Coun. Diane Deans, who chairs the police services board, made it very clear the board won't simply accept the police request for an additional $14 million.

"The service request is 2.86 per cent for 2022 that's their starting number," Deans told reporters after the tabling of the budget. "That is not, in all probability, the percentage increase at the end of the process that the board will approve. But that remains to be seen. We obviously have a lot of work to do."

No new additions to workforce

The budget states maintaining the current size of the police service will cost another $14.9 million.

Compensation causes most of the financial pressure, which is decided through collective agreements. Paying the existingstaff will cost an additional $11.9 million. The police service will not add any additional staff in 2022, foregoing the 30 new officers it plannedto hire.

The additional $2.8 million is needed to cover increasing cots of items like health and dental services, and increased fuel costs.

• Freezing budget could lead to nearly 140 layoffs, police force says

Police also want $5.2 million to invest in new services to help change the internal culture, pay for a new mental health program for officers, and to create a new call referral system that would redirect 911 calls tomore appropriate social services when warranted.

"We must make investments to improve how the Ottawa Police Service delivers services, particularly to the most racialized, marginalized and disenfranchised community members," Sloly told the board.

At the same time, police say they found $5.1 million in administrative savings, and expectan additional $800,000 from user fees.

That brings the total ask from Ottawa police to an additional $14 million in 2022.

A little more than $5 million will come from the expected 1.7 per cent growth in the city, while the remaining $8.8 millionwill come from the property tax base, which translates to a 2.86 per cent increase to the tax rate.

An urban homeowner, based on a home assessed at$415,000, can expect to pay about $663 a $19 increase in 2022.

Deans saidboard members will go through the budget line by line to try to find further savings.

The public can speak about the police budget at the finance and audit committee on Nov. 9, and again when the entire board considers the budget on Nov. 22.

Advocacy group not surprised by proposedincrease

Robin Browne, from the advocacy group 613/819 Black Hub, said he wasn't surprised by the proposed increase.

"They always get increases, so that's what they would expect to get," he told CBC News.

Browne said the board had a flawed methodology from the start. The Ottawa Police Service received board approval to develop a budget with a zero per cent increase for 2022 as its base.

"But what the board did, though and this was the problem was that the board said, 'start with an assumption you will get nothing and you're only going to get more if you give us a detailed justification,'" Browne said.

"And right from the beginning, we and other people complained that was a big loophole that the OPS could jump through."

He said 613/819 Black Hub will continue advocating for the police to receive no increase, including at the upcoming meetings this month.

"We'll still be continuing our pushing to have a complete freeze and give the OPS no increase at all this year."