By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
What appears to be a new town policy sparked vociferous opposition at the November Cobourg Police Services Board meeting.
The Nov. 6 letter from Treasurer Adam Giddings seemed to indicate the town has added a $70,000 item to the police budget to recover its costs – “to account for staff resources allocated to the preparation of accounts payable and payroll.”
Giddings added that, “The proposed update provides an equitable resource distribution and encourages a fair distribution among departments and shared resources. That is, it prevents one department from disproportionately bearing or benefiting from shared costs. In summary allocating wages among departments supports financial clarity, drives accountability and aligns resources with municipal strategy, benefiting both day-to-day management and long-term planning.”
“I thought it was kind of – for lack of a better word – weird they would be sending this motion out there,” said board Vice-Chair Adam Bureau (who is also a town councillor).
“To add anything or change to the budget should have been months ago. The chief and yourself have already presented the budget to council. I don’t understand why it’s here now.”
“Did this type of change come to council at all?” board member Dean Pepper asked.
“Is there any other department that Mr. Giddings’s department charges to facilitate that department?
The library – do they charge the library board for services from Mr. Giddings’s department?”
“There’s no other department the Town of Cobourg charges. The library does its own,” Bureau stated.
“They write their own checks, do their own payroll?” Pepper added.
“Yes,” Bureau confirmed.
Board member (and Cobourg Deputy Mayor) Nicole Beatty said she shared her fellow councillor’s puzzlement.
“I believe it’s a new operational mechanism corporate services is looking at,” Beatty guessed.
“That report hasn’t come to council identifying what those cost savings are.”
Chair Ronald Kerr termed the correspondence “unbelievable.”
“This board has presented its budget to council,” Kerr reiterated.
“If they don’t like our budget, they should have sent back our entire budget for the board to consider,” Pepper said.
“Under the Act, they can’t change our budget. We have to respond to this, one way or another.
“This isn’t the way to accomplish what they are trying to do. It’s totally unfair.”
Bureau referred to a MOU (memorandum of understanding) meeting with the town Thursday. He suggested referring this correspondence to that meeting, then reporting back to the board at its December meeting. Beatty put the suggestion into the form of a motion, which was passed.
