Thunder Bay, Ont., police report $199K operational budget surplus

The Thunder Bay Police Service spent nearly $90,000 on COVID-19 measures last year, a report to the city's police services board states.

The number comes from a report updating the board on the 2020 police operating budget, which is to be presented on Tuesday's police board meeting.

The report states the money was spent on various initiatives designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the police service:

• A call-back unit to reduce the number of times police are dispatched to calls for service, thereby limiting potential exposure to the virus.
• Additional cleaning and sanitation of vehicles.
• Wages and overtime to cover staff that were required to self-isolate.
• Personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies.
• Reduced revenue stemming from reductions in paid duty, which resulted from the closure of the city's casino and cancellation of summer events.
• The cancellation of false alarm billing from March to May 2020, which was implemented as a financial relief measure.
• Cost savings from the cancellation of travel and training.

Overall, the police service saw a net operating budget variance of about $199,000 in 2020.

The report states police saved about $1.6 million in wages and fringe benefits last year due to staff vacancies and a number of staff members on short- or long-term disability.

However, after factoring in unfavourable variances in WSIB costs ($351,000)‚ overtime ($372,300)‚ personal protective equipment ($85,000) and material costs ($361,800) police actually saved about $856,000 in wages and fringe benefits in 2020.

Police are also reporting unfavourable variances in equipment purchases for the criminal investigations branch and ETU‚ computer leases and software licenses‚ vehicle maintenance costs‚ building renovations and professional fees.

The police operating budget for 2020 was $46.7 million.