Hamilton Police Services Board will meet Feb. 13 for “line-by-line” review of $206.9 million budget

Hamilton’s Police Services Bord will meet February 13 for a line-by-line review of their $206.9 million 2024 budget; two days before a revised document is due back at City Council.

The police budget, up nearly $20 million from last year, was sent back to the board in the hopes a little fat can be trimmed off after nearly a hundred delegates showed up in the council chambers last week demanding the money be allocated elsewhere, such as affordable housing initiatives.

Hamilton’s budget committee approved a motion from Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch to send the budget back for review by an 12-3 vote Tuesday and Kroetsch tweeted the following day the police board had agreed to a special meeting to see if any cuts could be made.

Hamilton Councillor Cameron Kroetsch

“The Hamilton Police Services Board Chair has provided written notice that a Special meeting to consider Council’s request to review the budget will take place on February 13 at noon. I’ve asked for more information about the format of the meeting.”

Mayor Andrea Horwath expressed unhappiness with the motion at Council, noting she was “unsure” what changes can be made in two weeks – but did support the request for review.

In his notice of motion, Kroetsch cited a Mayor’s Directive from August 31 that stated the City of Hamilton “must reduce the burden on residential property taxes” and ensure that “all redundancies and efficiencies have been identified and addressed” before continued funding is approved.

The budget request from Hamilton Police represents more than 10 per cent of the entire city budget.