Cobourg Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf appeared before council Monday afternoon to explain the 20.5% budget increase estimate and the meeting continued long after his presentation.
VandeGraaf has previously talked about the budget at police board meetings and said the large increase estimate over last year’s 5.50% reflected the true cost of policing and correcting past mistakes.
It also factors in costs associated with being compliant with the Community Safety and Policing Act from the province as well as community needs with adequate and effective policing. He previously labeled a Strong Mayor Directive from Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland to limit the police to an increase of no more than 4% over last year as “performative” and “illegitimate” as the service is bound by legislation under the CSPA.
VandeGraaf showed stats from the Cobourg Police budgets during the past decade including the operating budget amount, budget increase and salary increase from each year.
In six of the 10 years dating back to 2016, the increase was less than 3% including no increases in 2017 and 2018. Despite the 0% increase, the collectively bargained contractual police staff salary increases in those years were 1.70% and 1.85%, respectively,
“That means the budget was in deficit right from the get-go and that is the picture that began to become reliant on the corporate service revenue,” VandeGraaf said.
“That is where we began to become, I will hasten to say, overly-reliant, some would say justifiably over-reliant – ‘you have that access to funds, why wouldn’t work use those funds.’”
The chief noted the service gets money from the tax levy, is very successful as well with provincial grants, and now rely on $2.8 million annually from the corporate service revenue.
The number was previously $2.1 million until an additional $700,000 was taken from reserves last year to keep the budget increase ask to a single-digit number.
“That might have been a bit of a mistake in the sense that we should’ve budgeted for what we needed back then so we could’ve budgeted this year for what it needed to be. Instead, now we’re kind of stuck.
The $700,000 hasn’t gone away, it’s still now being borne on the back of the corporate service revenue.”
The chief later said that had reserves not been used last year and they got the true increase amount required, the budget estimate ask this year would’ve been 10.6%.
VandeGraaf noted that capital expenses aren’t on the tax levy. There is no discretionary spending and all new staffing is tied to contractual obligations. In addition, the full impact of staggered hiring last year is being felt in this year’s budget and the chief said 80% of the budget estimate is from salaries and benefits and some part-time positions are becoming full-time. Costs have gone up for the service’s dispatch contract with the Owen Sound Police Service.
Staffing has increased as calls for service have gone up and it’s important not to burn out the officers.
“As our calls for service go up, our arrests go up because our community demands it,” he said. “I go throughout the community, never once have I had anybody say to me ‘hey chief, lay off the arrests, you’re arresting too many people. Chief, lay off the bail process, we don’t want anybody going to bail hearings anymore. Chief, just relax, you guys are too out there.’ Everywhere I go I hear ‘I want more’ and that’s okay, but that has a pressure on our membership so that’s why when we get into bargaining they have increased staffing requirements. I want my staff to know when they come to work they’ll have the tools, the people and the support to be very successful in serving you.”
The complexity of the work has changed, including preparing digital evidence for court. Costs associated with court security and administration duties, which fall to Cobourg Police, are also rising.
VandeGraaf said the service saves money with its tiered-policing model, using special constables for court security, front desk counter service, prisoner transport and cell monitoring, hospital guarding, foot patrols, community events and more.
The proposed budget is more than $9.4 million with an increase of about $1.6 million from last year.
VandeGraaf answered a number of questions from council members before the debate switched to between council members themselves.
Councillor Randy Barber asked the chief to further comment on the impact of low budget increases in the past, noting “there is a long-term consequence which is sometimes not particularly thought out.”
VandeGraaf said he was present for all the budgets he showed, either as deputy chief or chief, “so the buck stops here.”
“Those were all decisions made at the time for all the right reasons sir,” the chief added, noting “hindsight is a great tool and last year is the most recent example” when they arbitrarily worked to a lower (budget increase) number and leaned out the organization.
Councillor Brian Darling wondered what the 20.5% increase would equate to in terms of increasing the town’s overall tax levy increase. Treasurer Adam Giddings said the number would be 4.89% on top of everything else from the town departments and services.
“20.5% sounds astronomical, and is, 4.89% on our levy is still high, but secondly I would like to align with the chief in claiming some of the responsibility as I’ve been on council now for 11 years,” Darling said, noting trying to save tax dollars especially around COVID times but eventually the call and cost for services returned.
“As the chief said, hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Darling said.
Councillor Adam Bureau, who is also the current chair of the police board, said this year’s budget estimate is “righting the ship and getting everything back on track.”
Bureau said the board has been working hard. The number of required meetings per year is four and there have been more than 40 this year alone.
Mayor Cleveland asked who on the police board was responsible for labour negotiations since a lot of the budget estimate ask is related to wage increases.
Bureau said he was chair of the labour bargaining committee and was joined by members Dean Pepper and Ron Kerr while Chief VandeGraaf was their advisor. He noted labour negotiations continue with senior officers. The mayor asked who the fiscal and HR responsible staff were on the police side and was told by the chief that Cobourg Police CAO Roger Ramkissoon was the fiscal rep and they were also represented by legal firm Hicks Morley.
Councillor Miriam Mutton referenced a delegation at last week’s council meeting from resident Esther Schroeder who had a detailed presentation regarding the police budget estimate. Mutton said she understood Schroeder was a member of the police board’s finance committee, though didn’t mention Schroeder is also a member of the mayor’s budget committee.
Mutton said her understanding from the presentation is Schroeder didn’t get a response to her list of suggestions and concerns when she presented to the police board.
“I’m trying to understand as a person in this seat, but as a member of the community, when a citizen member puts a lot of effort into research and makes suggestions or asks questions like that, what is the format for reply and is something like that shared with council or other members of the public?” Mutton said.
Bureau said police board meetings are open to the public and recorded and available online for anyone wanting to watch at any time. He said Schroeder made a presentation at the meeting when the board approved the budget estimate and her questions were answered by VandeGraaf.
VandeGraaf added this was the first time for a call for citizens to sit on the police board’s finance committee and in addition to what Bureau said, there were also two orientation sessions held in-camera for the members.
“We were able to go through a lot of data, tons of excel spreadsheets about cost projections, cost history, how we got here – some of the same slides you see today were presented in those training sessions,” the chief said. “I do believe there were seven questions asked (by Schroeder) at the board meeting and I felt I did pretty good at answering all seven of those areas to address them, to help everybody understand and I recognize that the greatest thing about public discourse is that we can’t always agree necessarily, but that makes us all sharper and makes us all better. At the end of the day, I understand 20.5 is a terrible number…I understand there should be human outcry and I respect it. I don’t necessarily agree with a lot of it, but that’s okay, I don’t have to. My job is to present facts about what 35 years in this job has taught me.”
Cleveland told VandeGraaf the chief doesn’t “own the responsibility of fiscal prudence and the board members aren’t your people to protect. You are the board’s person and I just want to make sure the public understands that. At the end of the day it’s the board’s responsibility and you report to them, not the other way around.”
Darling pointed out that if the budget estimate isn’t accepted, it could go to conciliation and arbitration, but that will just cost more money.
VandeGraaf said the time a police budget even went as far as conciliation was 1999 in Guelph and the police force was successful.
Cleveland asked the chief if there was any request from the board to make a presentation to either just the mayor under Strong Mayor Powers or to all of council. The answer to both was no.
The mayor said despite the chief and Darling taking some responsibility for past minimal police budget increases, he referred to some previous comments from the chief about mistakes from the police board leading to the 20.5% increase.
“So my question is, chief would you like to elaborate on this allegation of fiduciary irresponsibility against the Cobourg Police board?” Cleveland asked.
After a quick pause, VandeGraaf said “I’m looking for the question.”
“My question is, is could you please elaborate on the allegation of fiduciary irresponsibility against the Cobourg Police board,” the mayor said.
“From last year’s budget sir,” VandeGraaf said.
“Well we’ve seen a whole slide going back 10 so I’m open to either last year’s or a continued pattern of years going back sir,” Cleveland said.
VandeGraaf said “I’m happy to rediscuss the 10-year slide. I don’t believe it is of value at this time. I believe those facts speak for themselves. My comments are made with the board’s understanding and full knowledge that last year there was an opportunity to recognize the true cost of policing and it was going to be greater than 7%. There was a mistake to take money from reserves to push the can down the highway. I’ll stand firmly by that fact that we should have reflected the true cost of policing then so that I could truly reflect the cost of policing now. I don’t think you would be collectively satisfied with the combined number being basically what we’re facing in one year but at the end of the day sir I stand by comments that the cost of policing and public safety is essential and this is the cost to get the job done.”
Bureau said at the time the board was approving the budget to send to the mayor, it was unclear if there would be a presentation allowed under the new Strong Mayor’s budget scenario.
“Mr. Bureau, you’ve been to the three training sessions with the rest of us,” Cleveland said before the councillor responded “I’m not getting into that.”
Bureau said the budget was sent to the mayor who then added it to a council meeting agenda at the last minute for council’s support to send it back to the police board without looking at the budget. The mayor said it required two-thirds support of council to get it on the agenda.
“To date, there has still yet to be a formal request,” Cleveland said. “The request was made by the mayor to the board and to yourself, to the chief, as to a date that you would like to present after I watched from home the Cobourg Police budget meeting and I noticed that multiple people were complaining throughout the process that they had not had a chance to present to council.”
On Nov. 12, the police board voted to send the budget back to council with a request for presentations to explain the budget and answer questions.
Cleveland said “there isn’t necessarily a need to present the (police) budget to council.”
“Then, if that was the case,” Bureau said, “why would you have had this council send back the budget and add it to that special meeting without looking at it…” before getting cut off by the mayor.
“I did not do that,” Cleveland said. “This council chose…Councillor Bureau you keep saying I did it as if…”
“You added it to the agenda, it was your motion,” Bureau said. “Council voted, yes, to add it on there. Second, in that council meeting, we (Bureau and the other police board rep Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty) repeatedly asked this council before sending it back, let’s have a presentation on it. Everyone said no.”
“So in that meeting Mr. Bureau were you chair of the police board or were you a councillor,” Cleveland said.
Bureau said he was a councillor before getting cut off by the mayor.
“That’s not an official request sir,” Cleveland said. “That’s a council member asking the mayor in a council meeting. If an official request had come, it would have come from the chair of the board or the board.”
Beatty asked the chief when the mayoral directive for the police was issued in July and while he was working with the finance committee and board to present the budget estimate, at any time was instruction on how to submit the estimate shared with the chief.
“The reason I ask that cause there was several times at the board meetings where board members and yourself asked of the council appointees what’s the process, when do we submit, when do we have an opportunity to present, et cetera and the only thing that we were able to offer was the December 1st deadline (when the mayor would present the budget),” the deputy mayor said, asking if the opportunity to present was a point of information to the chief.
“No we just worked together in the background to try to work towards our budget, but no we were never given any…I didn’t have any understanding around the Strong Mayor’s act and the powers. Obviously that’s something I could’ve done more work on myself,” VandeGraaf said.
Cleveland said “I disagree chief, that’s why we have council representatives on your board to have that cross-line of communication.”
Beatty reminded the mayor “you just said to Councillor Bureau were we a board member or were we a councillor and at that time because when it was added the board would’ve provided that submission to present. That was part of that conversation so we did raise that at that time because it wasn’t clear to the board or the chief, even an opportunity to present.”
The deputy mayor said the board has proven strong levels of financial stewardship and accountability.
She asked the chief “at any time, in your opinion, over the last 18 months has the board demonstrated any financial irresponsibility when at the same time we know we had those conversations around having our fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayer?”
VandeGraaf said “two years ago I brought forward a staffing ask that the board deliberated, the board listened, the board considered and ultimately the board said no and that’s fair. It didn’t come to fruition that year and the next year I brought it back and I said ‘hey we’re back at this, same problem, same regulations, same requirements, same pressures, increasingly,’ and the board heard.
“I can tell you that this board holds me and our staff accountable monthly. I really believe the board has done its every due diligence and otherwise the Inspectorate of Policing, who come to a lot of our meetings if not all, would be taking great issue with the way the board manages itself.”
VandeGraaf reiterated his only issue was that the true cost of policing needed to be reflected in the budget estimate.
Mayor Cleveland said he was going to address something Bureau said “in a very calm manner” regarding why there wasn’t a presentation to council.
“I just want to be very clear, there was never a reason why we couldn’t present to council, it was just that no request had been made,” Cleveland said. “The reason I keep taking exception is as mayor, even in an SMP, Strong Mayor Power, world, I don’t get to just singlehandedly do things. At the end of the day, while I may present the budget, the ultimate decision of this budget will be this council’s. The final tax levy will be this council’s. The decision of what this police budget will be will be this council’s.”
Under Strong Mayor Powers, the mayor is required to propose the budget by Feb. 1. After the mayor proposes the budget, council can pass resolutions to amend the budget within 30 days of it being introduced however the mayor may veto a council budget resolution. Council may then override a mayoral veto but it requires a two-thirds majority vote.
In Port Hope, Mayor Olena Hankivsky committed to establishing a municipal budget review process that is inclusive of staff and Council input, with the goal of producing a budget that best meets the needs of the community and is supported and endorsed by council before she introduces it for final approval.
At Monday’s Cobourg meeting, Cleveland reiterated it was council, not himself, that recently sent the police budget back to the board which Bureau took issue with, noting it’s the mayor’s budget to present and he could’ve just sent the police estimate back to the board for further consideration.
“Regardless of how you want to spin it, you were the one that still brought it…to council,” Bureau said.
The mayor wished to move forward and said “again Mr. VandeGraaf thank you very much for being here” before he was reminded by Barber of the chief’s title.
“I apologize, thank you Mr. Barber, always very, very focused on titles so Chief VandeGraaf.”
Cleveland called a vote to receive the presentation for information purposes before more discussion was held including the possibility of council scheduling a date to meet after the budget is presented.
The mayor said it was supposed to be Dec. 1 until the police budget presentation was scheduled for the same date. He’s now aiming for Dec. 8 but is also still waiting for some legal opinions.
Options included days leading up to Christmas or possibly in early January. Clerk Brent Larmer reminded council that once the budget is presented they only have 30 days to offer amendments or it will be considered adopted.
At one point, the mayor interrupted comments from Beatty about whether council would see the draft budget prepared by staff saying it was not correct.
“I have the opportunity to be corrected,” Beatty said.
“I’m going to pass the chair since I don’t seem to have any listening. If I may pass the chair over to Councillor Darling, perhaps you’ll have better luck having a conversation about what is and isn’t the budget.”
Darling said “I will accept the chair and at this time I’ll let the deputy mayor continue without interruption. If a mistake is made in her comments I will ask for any corrections at that time.”
After lengthy discussion, Bureau later withdrew an amendment to set a meeting date for council to review the budget as it could be decided at a later time and allow the meeting to adjourn.
That came after comments from Barber.
“Personally I’m wondering why we’re discussing this with this gallery still here. This is absolutely ridiculous folks. We should have closed this down earlier and let the gallery go at this point and continue on with this, whatever it is we’re doing, trying to pick a date. I’m very, very disappointed and frustrated at this quite honestly. I say that in all sincerity.”
Mutton took exemption with those comments.
“This council rarely meets as a full council, we’re in the month of December, we’re in holiday season, we have a regular meeting coming up and we have some very important deadlines on a very new process,” she said. “I actually expressed to my colleague beside me that I was very unhappy with his statement right now. I think we have a duty to conduct due diligence and to be very transparent and open with our public.”
Council approved the presentation for information.
The full meeting is available at this link: https://pub-cobourg.escribemeetings.com/Players/ISIStandAlonePlayer.aspx?Id=34ac05eb-390f-45ff-9dc9-546c6574811e
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
