Board Of Police Commissioners Provide One Additional Budget Page
By Robert Thomas
If you were hoping to see a more detailed budget from the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners and in turn the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) you are going to have to think again.
During the post Council press conference on December 6th, 2021 Mayor Clive Tolley was asked if he was able to release additional details of the the MJPS budget.
The request was made in light of other major cities in the province - most notably the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) - providing a budget which showed detailed breakdowns of individual initiatives and costs to that city’s police force.
Something the MJPS does not show in their budget.
“I will bring this up at the Board of Police Commissioners and see what the answer is,” Mayor Tolley said in response to questions from MJ Independent as he was new to the position and unaware what budget details he could publicly release. Mayor Tolley has yet to respond with an answer.
In response to an Freedom Of Information (FOI) request the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners responded with one additional page above the budget submitted publicly to Council for approval.
Added details of the 2022 MJPS budget provided in response to an FOI request
The FOI requested access to all documents - both internal and external - relating to the MJPS’s 2022 budget.
In a written response from Dawn Luhning chair of the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners access to more than one page of the budget documents was denied citing sections of the Saskatchewan Police Act and the Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection Act.
It needs to be noted even with the additional page released the public police budgets in Prince Albert, Regina and Saskatoon show more detail of not only expenditures but also initiatives they are funding in contrast to Moose Jaw.
Commissioner Luhning is also seen by many as a proponent of increased transparency in her other role as a member of Council.
The basic document released does show the major component of MJPS’s $11,168,126 budget was labour cost related. The MJPS budgeted $8,825,252 on wages, benefits, required government contributions plus the Commissionaires in 2022 versus $8,555,573 in 2021 or a $269,2679 year over year increase.
The top percentage increase in the budget is for computer software which had $110,000 budgeted in 2021 and $290,000 budgeted in 2022.
Legal fees is another area percentage-wise rising with a larger increase. They are is set to almost double with $80,000 budgeted in 2021 versus $150,000 in 2022.
There is no explanation given why there is a sudden increase in legal fees.
Vehicle maintenance costs are set to increase 10 percent year over year with the MJPS budgeted to spend $220,000 in 2022 versus $200,000 in 2021.
With the mandates and restrictions lifted because of the COVID - 19 pandemic the MJPS budget calls for only a $500 reduction in cleaning supply purchases.
In 2022 the MJPS is slated to spend $7,000 in janitorial supplies versus $7,500 spent in 2021 when a more thorough cleaning strategy was applied due to COVID.
The MJPS budget documents do not show how much is being spent extra for cleaning due to the pandemic. This contrasts with the PAPS budget which breaks the number out and shows an anticipated cost savings in the thousands of dollars - without changing the cleaning’s efficacy - by simply implementing changes to the cleaning procedures.
Despite implementing training of an unspecified number of officers to establish a Special Weapons and Tactical Team (SWAT) or Tactical Team the budget does not show any increase between 2021 and 2022 training budgets. Both years budget the same $60,000 for training and travel.
It also needs to be noted the MJPS budget, the same as the City’s budget, was developed prior to higher inflation such as increased costs for fuel.
The budget itself does not break out how much the MJPS will spend for fuel in 2022.
Overall Council approved a 5.45% property tax increase for 2022, with 3.84% dedicated to City programs and services, and 1.61% property tax increase allocated to the Moose Jaw Police Service for their Budget.