Hamilton police and city councillors are gearing up for a critical meeting Tuesday that will focus on the proposed police budget for the year.
New suggestions were proposed Monday on how the city’s police can keep costs down and save money for taxpayers.
The force’s mounted unit first saddled up 14 years ago, with the role of high-visibility policing, crime prevention and search and rescue, among others.
The police board will now be examining whether the unit is too expensive to maintain.
With the city asking for all departments to cut back on budget increases this year, councillor Cameron Kroetsch and police board member Dr. Anjali Menezes have proposed a number of suggestions for police to save money.
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Among them is disbanding the mounted unit saving $914,000, delaying planned hiring that would save $740,000 and delayed repairs to the Mountain police station parking lot that would save an additional $500,000.
Kroetsch says the condition of that parking lot has been rated as “fair”, leading to the proposition to delay the work.
“If we’re asking the city to reduce its costs, the largest part of the city’s budget which comes from the Police Board should also be asked to reduce costs.” said the councillor.
These budget reductions are being asked as the city aims to get this year’s property tax increase below 7.9 per cent as it continues to wrestle with the budget.
Mayor Andrea Horwath is echoing the city’s sentiments, saying on CHCH Morning Live, “it’s a tough time right now folks are really struggling or of course, things are really expensive for people.”
READ MORE: Hamilton Police Services Board approves 2.98 per cent police budget increase
When asked if the police should be expected to follow suit with tightening their budgets, she agreed saying, “there’s no doubt everybody should be and that’s definitely the case.”
The latest figures indicate the police are asking for a budget increase of around 8 per cent for a total budget of $214 million.
Councillor Kroetsch’s suggestions on how police can save money didn’t end there. He has also suggested cutting out cable tv, retiree events, the community satisfaction survey and advertising and promotion, which would save $217,000.
The special meeting on the police budget is set to be held Tuesday at city hall.
Although it will not be open to the public, it can be watched on the Hamilton Police Board’s website, by clicking here.
READ MORE: ‘It certainly isn’t going to be 7.9%’: Hamilton’s mayor on city budget
