Police Force Operating Budget Estimated To Be Underbudget

The Saint John Board of Police Commissioners discussed the police force’s operating budget during their monthly meeting on Tuesday.

Come year-end, senior finance manager Craig Lavigne said the budget is estimated to show the force being under budget by just over $62,000.

“[A] large portion of that variance is from wages, with some overages in our business services, the majority due to the additional infrastructure from the cyberattack.”

Overall wages and benefits are expected to be $171,982 under budget and are being attributed to retirements and vacancies.

But goods and services are forecast to be over budget by $121,820, mainly due to additional costs of IT infrastructure.

Lavigne also touched on the operating budget for the Public Safety Communications Centre, which was nearly $148,000 over budget as of August 31.

“[The] majority of that coming from wages, and some revenue differences, and for year-end results we’re anticipating to be about $240,000 over budget again, wages being the bigger driver.”

The main driver is overtime expenses, which are forecast to be $356,000 over budget as the centre has dealt with several staffing vacancies.

A reduction in wages and salaries to the tune of around $205,000 is expected to help offset the increased overtime expenses.

Revenue for the centre is also expected to be down by nearly $118,000. According to a staff report, the budget was based on providing services to additional areas, but they are no longer expected to be onboarded this year.