After a bruising budget process, the Victoria Police Department has enough money from the city to avoid layoffs, but it comes with some questionable budget contortions.
Victoria councillors approved a 3.2 per cent increase for the police, which is enough that they are congratulating themselves for keeping the overall tax increase to 3.9聽per cent instead of 4.3 per cent.
Police Chief Del Manak had warned he would have to lay off nine civilian employees if the department was saddled with $690,000 for the employer health tax, something other city departments didn鈥檛 have to pay.
Too bad, councillors said. The police have to pay the health tax, and Manak would have to make up the money in other ways.
So he pared $212,000 from his proposal. Then councillors reduced a proposed $700,000 allocation to the retirement reserve to $400,000 and cut a $1.56-million transfer to the capital-replacement reserve fund to $756,000.
In other words, they are pushing costs down the road to minimize this year鈥檚 overall tax increase.
The retirement fund is already underfunded, so that money will have to be made up in future years. And one day, patrol cars and other equipment will have to be replaced, which means a future council will have to find the money for the capital reserve.
In years to come, councillors and taxpayers will not thank the current council for saddling them with these reserve costs. And although the chief avoided layoffs, he didn鈥檛 get the additional staff he had proposed, at a time when council is fast-tracking projects such as bike lanes and affordable housing to deal with rapid growth.
This budget process has been punishing, and Manak has to do it all over again in front of Esquimalt council.
