Winnipeg police $13M under budget in 2023
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/01/2024 (652 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Winnipeg Police Service expects to come in nearly $13 million under budget for 2023, but will still be directed to save millions more next year, Winnipeg Police Board chairman Markus Chambers said.
On Tuesday, the councillor told reporters the expected $12.9 million in savings from last year largely reflects pension changes.
“There were huge savings, in terms of what the service is paying towards the pension plan to keep it solvent… and then the ‘basket’ increased funding of $5.2 million from the provincial government (for police which) offset those costs as well. (It’s) great news all around,” said Chambers.
Winnipeg budget set for Feb. 7 release
The City of Winnipeg’s next budget will be revealed on Feb. 7.
The preliminary 2024-2027 multi-year financial blueprint will be released at a special executive policy committee meeting next month, a news release issued Tuesday said.
The City of Winnipeg’s next budget will be revealed on Feb. 7.
The preliminary 2024-2027 multi-year financial blueprint will be released at a special executive policy committee meeting next month, a news release issued Tuesday said.
The timeline will allow 23 days for councillors and the public to read the plan before it is reviewed by standing policy committees on March 1. Those meetings will allow presentations from public delegates.
Council is expected to cast a final vote on the budget on March 20.
However, the projected savings are expected to boost the city’s overall budget and not offset WPS inflationary pressures in 2024, said Chambers.
He said the police service will be expected to save another $7 million in 2024.
Police were tasked with saving $9.2 million in 2023, within an overall $326-million capital and operating budget, which they are expected to achieve in addition to the overall budget savings.
The next in-year savings target will be lower, largely because costs linked to a cancelled plan to cut police pension costs have been covered, Chambers said.
In 2020, an arbitrator ruled the city lacked the authority to unilaterally impose those cost-cutting pension changes without a negotiated agreement with police unions. That created a $37-million hole in the city’s last four-year budget, leading council to direct the police service to find millions of dollars in savings per year to help bridge the gap.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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