The cost of policing Barrie could increase by almost seven per cent next year — or by $4.8 million.
The Barrie Police Services Board, at its Dec. 4 meeting, discussed and approved a 2025 draft budget of $72.34 million, which is 6.99 per cent more than this year.
Police spending in 2025 still requires city council's approval in January, after that budget is presented to councillors and debated.
Leading into Wednesday’s meeting, 2025 police budget spending had been projected at 5.79 per cent, or $3.9 million more, for a total of $71.43 million.
A downtown deployment initiative, requiring seven full-time special constables and costing $910,787 annually, is the additional cost to the police budget which hiked the increase to 6.99 per cent from 5.79 per cent.
“It increases our visibility in the downtown,” Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston said of the initiative. “There are a host of other benefits to having more personnel downtown, in terms of connectivity with the rest of the (police) organization.”
“It’s about the perception, the presence of officers,” said Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson, vice-chairman of the police services board, who would not get into details because the initiative is an operational matter for police. “It’s a neat concept and it’s been tried and tested in other places and it works.”
Barrie Police Services finance manager Tyrell Turner said the initiative would require funding for seven full-time special constables, and 10 per cent of the annual cost includes overhead, such as training, equipment and vehicles, if needed.
Barrie’s 2025 police budget also includes $486,000 for a five-year operating lease of new conductive energy devices, Axon Taser 10s.
Turner has identified a projected $524,000 surplus in this year’s police budget and an operating reserve of $887,000.
Funding from both of those sources are to pay for the Tasers, Thomson said.
“It’s not asking the citizens of Barrie to increase our budget by that 0.72 per cent ($486,000),” said police services board chairman Greg Ferguson.
Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall, who also sits on the police board, said councillors can go through this police budget in detail.
“I think for one of the first times as far back as I can remember, there is an option here for Barrie city council to give feedback and that option is what level of service do we perceive the need being for downtown versus the core service of policing around the entire city and I just wanted to flag that,” he said.
“It’s not only giving more opportunity for the elected representatives (Barrie councillors) at city hall to weigh in, it also provides more transparency around spending," the mayor added.
The numbers say Barrie police continue to be busy, and the 2025 budget reflects that.
Calls for service totalled 81,513 in 2023, 71,071 in 2022 and 73,622 in 2021, and 66,127 in 2020.
The 2025 police budget includes six new sworn officers.
Police officials have also said the budget increase is from the collective agreement, which pays their salaries and benefits, and the annualized cost of new officers.
Salaries and benefits are about 95 per cent of the entire police budget. Barrie police presently have 250 sworn officers and 125 civilian members.
The 2024 police budget is $67.5 million, or a 6.78 per cent increase from 2023, when it was $63.24 million.
Barrie’s police budget is usually about 20 per cent of the city’s total annual operating budget, and its most expensive item; the annual city operating/capital budgets set service levels and property tax increases in Barrie.
The police budget is part of the city budget, and thus requires council approval.
Councillors will receive 2025 budgets from city service partners — the County of Simcoe, city police and the Barrie Public Library — on Jan. 8, then hear presentations of these budgets Jan. 15.
General committee’s budget talks will be Jan. 22, with city council approval of the total operating and capital budgets on Jan. 29.
