Winnipeg committee approves $7.28M over-expenditure for police service

The first took place Saturday around 9:20 a.m. when police were called to a vehicle robbery in the 100 block of Selkirk Avenue. Police said officers who arrived could not locate a suspect. (File image)

WINNIPEG -

City Hall’s finance committee has approved an over-expenditure of up to $7.28 million for the Winnipeg Police Service in 2021.

$5.77 million is related to increased pension costs, the rest to unrealized savings.

Last month, the committee asked the service to come back with other options before voting on the ask.

The Winnipeg Police Board reported back that none exist.

That irked some committee councillors who said they wanted the options presented anyway, even if they are not viable.

Police Chief Danny Smyth told them the only options are a two-week furlough of the service or cuts. He says cuts are not workable because of notice stipulations in collective agreements.

He suggested it didn’t make sense to bring forward unrealistic options.

“In my view, that’s not productive, but it might be helpful at a political level.

In the end, the committee voted three to one in favour of the over-expenditure request.

Councillor Sherri Rollins voted against it. She wants the finance committee to have more oversight of the service's budget.

“We are not hearing the answer to the financial question today,” said Rollins.

 

If general city coffers cannot cover the additional funding, the city’s fiscal stabilization reserve is used as a backstop.