Sudbury police working to shrink its budget for 2017

The Greater Sudbury Police Service is trying to find ways to cut its proposed budget for 2017, after being asked by Sudbury city council to reduce spending.

But that may be easier said than done, according to the city's police chief.

"There are some fixed costs that we can't control," Chief Paul Pedersen told CBC News.

"The number of employees.KPMG confirms that we don't have extra employees hanging around here, they didn't come in with recommendations to downsize this."

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Pedersen said staffing costs make up 90 per cent of the budget, meaning most costs aren't discretionary.

The police service recently hired consultants with KPMG to conduct an audit, which found the force to be efficient and effective in a number of areas.

Concerns were raised with the downtown police headquarters building, which, according to the auditors, was built about 40 years ago, and was originally a library.

When police submitted their proposed 2017 budget to city hall this year, the service was asking for a 4.1 per cent increase over 2016.

The police received a 1.9 percent increase in the 2016 municipal budget.