Police and region set to tangle over budget
610 CKTB News
10/26/2012
Niagara's police board and the region may be going head to head over the force's proposed budget.
The police board has given the green light to a tenative spending plan that includes a 2.87 percent increase which is .3 percent higher than the region had requested.
And that's not sitting well with some regional politicians who want the board to take a second look at the proposed 126 million dollar operating budget.
Niagara Regional Chairman Gary Burroughs tells 610 CKTB, overtime for police is one of the biggest challenges.
Police Services Board Chairman Henry D'Angela also adding that overtime is hard to control.
For instance, he says major investigations makes up about 17 percent of the overtime budget.
D'Angela says there are provincially mandated case requirements that must be met for major investigations.
And he notes homocides, missing persons and human remains investigations all put a blip in that overtime budget.
Adding to the uncertainty, police don't have a contract and the issue is now before an arbritator to decide.
Regional councillors won't get an official look at the police budget until November 8th.