Hamilton Police Service has $567K remaining in budget, opening door for another surplus

The Hamilton Police Service (HPS) has about $567,875 remaining in its 2020 budget.

And while that would meanlocal police have a surplus, the service is also facing moreunexpected costs related to COVID-19 that it hopes the province will help cover.

The police services board discussed the budget variance at a meeting Thursday. The report shows thattheHPShas made roughly$400,000 less than expected, andhas spent almost a million dollars less than it projected.

The majority of those savings came from employee-related costs, including delaying hires and cancelling training.

Ward 6 councillor and board memberTom Jackson asked why there was a$567,875surplus. Police Chief Eric Girtsaid the service's budget is"on target for the year end period."

AnnaFilice, the service's chief administrative officer, said afterward that HPS also took about $600,000 out of reserves in order to avoid increasing the operating budget this year. And the service will face other pressures by the end of the year, including paying out overtime costs.

HPS is also looking at about $12,000 more in COVID-related costs than it anticipated earlier inthe fall, Filice said. It initially expected to pay $538,000, and the actual cost is $550,000.

The service is teaming up with the city to apply for a provincial grant to help cover costs related to the pandemic.

By year end, "that number will change," shesaid of the $567,875 surplus. "It's likely to go down."

While 2020 is an exceptional year, HPS has had budget surpluses in recent years that have prompted questions from the community and city council.

In the past, HPS has put some of that money into reserves, as well as buying equipmentand helping to build anew downtown forensics building.