Alex Nuttall’s campaign promise to freeze city property taxes just got harder to keep.
Barrie’s mayor-elect faces a $62.3-million police budget next year — an increase of 7.28 per cent compared to 2022.
On Thursday afternoon, the Barrie Police Services Board OKed its draft 2023 budget, which still requires city council approval.
“Obviously, it’s going to be difficult to make all of these competing priorities (work),” Nuttall told BarrieToday on Friday afternoon, speaking of the city’s overall budget process. “Our job (at city council) is to make sure that we do, and hard work is what’s in front of us.
“I know that as a team we’ll hit the ground running, we'll be able to come to a consensus and chart a very prudent path forward that balances obviously the affordability issues that folks are facing at times right now alongside the requirements and priorities of the City of Barrie," he added.
Nuttall said he did not know, however, that this level of increase was coming in the 2023 draft Barrie police budget.
This year’s proposed city police budget is $58.9 million, so that’s a year-to-year increase of $3.4 million to $62.3 million in 2023.
Freezing property taxes this coming term (2022 to 2026), fixing city roads, jobs for Barrie, housing people can afford, a downtown to be proud of, and a city people feel safe in were the planks of Nuttall’s campaign platform.
He promised to rein in spending and hold the line on municipal taxes to keep more money in Barrie residents’ wallets.
Nuttall’s tax-freeze pledge did not include the levy for Barrie’s dedicated infrastructure renewal fund, which is used to renew and replace city roads, pipes and buildings.
His election platform also said he would increase police resources to keep the streets safe, which included traffic calming, dealing with speeders and noisy cars.
“I think you have to remember is what we discussed during the campaign, to maintain the capital (infrastructure) surcharge, and then at the same time look for operating efficiencies so that we could freeze the taxes going forward,” Nuttall said. “That’s what we’re working for, those are the goals.”
Nuttall said he plans to meet with Barrie police officials before the budget process begins in earnest early next year.
“I plan on sitting down with police at some point as part of my transition … discuss what resources are required in order to ensure safety when it comes to the roads, a safe community when it comes to the prevention and response to violent crimes,” he said.
“I think it’s obviously incredibly important to provide our police with resources that they need to prevent crime and keep us safe.”
Nuttall, who was elected Oct. 24, will be sworn in as Barrie’s next mayor on Nov. 16.
Between then and Jan. 30, when Barrie Police Services Board is scheduled to present its budget to council, much will have changed.
Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood retires at the end of 2022 and there will be a new police chief.
Mayor Jeff Lehman, who voiced support for the 2023 draft budget during Thursday's meeting, will be the ex-mayor and likely no longer a police board member.
The status of police services board chairman Greg Ferguson and Coun. Robert Thomson, the board’s vice-chairman, remain unknown.
The mayor traditionally chooses the council representative, although that choice is approved by city council.
One person is also appointed to the police board by a resolution of council, someone who is neither a member of the council nor an employee of the municipality. That would currently be Ferguson and his term ends with the 2018-2022 council.
Provincial appointees Arif Khan and Lynn Strachan, who was Nuttall’s campaign manager in the mayor’s race, could still be on the board.
Khan’s term expires May 6, 2023, while Strachan’s time ends Feb. 10, 2024 — although she was elected as a trustee to the public school board in the Oct. 24 city election.
City treasurer Craig Millar has said the plan is to present the city’s operating and capital budget, which includes police expenses, to Barrie councillors on Jan. 16, 2023, with general committee deliberations on Feb. 6 and final city council approval on Feb. 13.
The budget sets property taxes and service levels.
Barrie police officials are scheduled to present their operational and capital budget to council in the middle of this process, on Jan. 30, probably along with the city’s other service partners, which includes the County of Simcoe, Barrie Public Library and local conservation authorities.
“In terms of the future budgets that are coming forward, I think we have lots of presentations that we’ll be going through," Nuttall said. "We’re obviously starting to work through the numbers, both individually as well as a council, as a team, to make sure that our budgets align with the city’s priorities.
“Certainly, I won’t have all of the answers yet as we don’t have all of the information, but we’ll work through that together and obviously will be able to do that with the public process of the budget," he added.
Police spending is traditionally the largest segment of Barrie’s annual operating budget. This year it is 21.8 per cent, while last year it was 22.2 per cent.
Barrie police calls for service are roughly 20 per cent criminal and 80 per cent non-criminal, 60 per cent non-emergency and 40 per cent emergency.
