BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS - DECEMBER 20, 2017
The Board adopted the following resolution:
1. That the 2018 Regina Police Service Operating and Capital Budget, which includes estimated gross operating expenditures of $87,869,000 and revenues of $9,880,600, resulting in a Net Operating Budget of $77,988,400, be approved.
2. That this report be amended to reflect the changes set out in P17-72: Supplementary Report - Regina Police Service 2018 Operating and Capital Budget.
3. That an edited version of this report be forwarded to City Council for approval
Recommendations #2 and #3 do not require City Council approval.
Mayor Michael Fougere (Chairperson), Councillors: Barbara Young and Joel Murray, and Commissioners: Gordon Selinger and Vic Pankratz were present during consideration of this report by the Board of Police Commissioners.
BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS - DECEMBER 11, 2017
The Board adopted the following resolution:
1. That the 2018 Capital Budget of $4,970,600, with capital funding to be determined by Regina City Council, be approved.
2. That Recommendations #1 and #3 be tabled for consideration at the December 20, 2017 meeting.
Mayor Michael Fougere (Chairperson), Councillors: Barbara Young and Joel Murray, and Commissioner Vic Pankratz were present during consideration of this report by the Board of Police Commissioners.
The Board of Police Commissioners, at the PRIVATE session of its meetings held on
December 11 and December 20, 2017, considered the following report from the Chief of Police:
RECOMMENDATION
1. That the 2018 Regina Police Service Operating and Capital Budget, which includes estimated gross operating expenditures of $87,869,000 and revenues of $9,880,600, resulting in a Net Operating Budget of $77,988,400, be approved.
2. That the 2018 Capital Budget of $4,970,600, with capital funding to be determined by Regina City Council, be approved.
3. That an edited version of this report be forwarded to City Council for approval
CONCLUSION
The Regina Police Service proposed 2018 Operating and Capital Budget has been prepared based on a thorough review of conditions, challenges and opportunities facing the Regina Police Service. Efforts have been made to reduce spending where possible and to contain increases to the amount absolutely needed. The Regina Police Service 2018 Operating and Capital Budget is aimed at ensuring Regina Police Service performance, effectiveness and value to the community.
BACKGROUND
At the October 25, 2017 Board of Police Commissioners meeting, the Regina Police Service submitted the 2018 operating and capital budget for the Board’s review and approval. At the November 22, 2017 Board meeting, the Board requested further information on the 2018 operating budget.
DISCUSSION
The Regina Police Service works every day to provide good value to Regina citizens. The Service strives to continually improve itself within a strong framework of integrity and with a foundation of values that guide our plans, our work and our relationships. The Regina Police Service takes a lead role in providing public safety in the city of Regina. Recognition of this role is embodied in the Service’s mission statement, and is the central principle underlying all our activities:
Regina Police Service Mission: Public service first
The Regina Police Service 2015 - 2018 Strategic Plan is based on four integrated areas of focus: service, communication, our people, and improvements. A summary of the Strategic Plan is provided in Appendix A.
The Regina Police Service financial plans provide the framework for the ongoing and sustained delivery of core policing work and support the strategic initiatives defined in the Regina Police Service 2015 - 2018 Strategic Plan. The 2018 Operating Budget contains the funding needed to deliver policing services for the upcoming year and the five-year Capital Budget provides the long-term financial plan to prepare the Service for the future. Highlights of accomplishments resulting from the 2017 Operating and Capital Budget are contained in Appendix B.
The Regina Police Service continuously looks to improve its service delivery and measures its performance through established performance indicators. These performance indicators provide internal accountability to the Board of Police Commissioners and external accountability to the citizens of Regina in Appendix C.
The annual budget process involves an environmental scan of internal and external conditions impacting the Service. Regina, over the past several years has seen a period of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity and as such has experienced population growth, enlargement of its physical footprint, changing demographics due to significant increase in newcomers and changing industry such as the development of the Global Transportation Hub.
The work of policing has changed and each of the factors below represents opportunities and challenges for the Service.
· Technological advances and new investigative tools require training, equipment and human resource specialization.
· New laws increase enforcement and administrative requirements.
· Court rulings have impacted the time required to support prosecutions.
· Provincial and Federal Government legislative and policy changes have impacted the type of calls for service, such as, mental health and addictions; and
· Policing boundaries have opened up to include joint forces operations.
The core organizational structure of the Regina Police Service has remained unchanged for the past 20 years. In 2014 the Service began an efficiency review resulting in a number of administrative police positions being converted to civilian positions and redeployment of those police officers to operational policing duties. In 2017, a Patrol Workload Assessment and Organizational Review began to objectively determine if resources are sufficiently aligned to achieve the police mandate and strategic goals. This budget reflects the first phase of a strategic realignment.
The guiding principles used in preparing the 2018 budget include:
· Alignment of the financial plan with the strategic plan.
· Continue to commit to the delivery of quality service for Regina citizens while looking for ways to become more efficient, and to streamline and simplify our work.
· Identify opportunities to improve our performance and to create value.
· Understand and build interrelationships, which help us to become more cost effective and to deliver superior service.
· Sustainability of infrastructure through long-term planning while using a balanced and measured approach to safeguard our assets.
· Evaluate and plan for the long-term to align the resources and work of the Service with the growth and changes in the City; and
· Incorporate fiscal responsibility into every expenditure decision made by the Regina Police Service as a means of providing stability to the organization, stretching the value of resource usage and being accountable to citizens who want the tax dollars they provide to be prudently allocated.
Operating Budget
The 2018 Operating Budget supports cost adjustments to reflect changing internal and external conditions and Strategic Plan initiatives. For 2018, the Regina Police Service proposes a Net Operating Budget of $77,988,400; this includes $87,869,000 in gross operating expenditures and $9,880,600 in anticipated revenues. The resulting Net Operating Budget is a $2,328,400 or 3.1% increase over the 2017 budget. This is arrived through an expenditure increase of $3,359,200 and a revenue increase of $1,030,800. Staffing expenditures support 587 permanent and 12 casual FTE’s and comprises 89.1% of the Gross Operating Budget.
Regina Police Service 2018 Operating Budget
Operational expenses reflect a decrease of $140,500 or 1.5% decrease from the 2017 level. The Regina Police Service 2017 Net Operating Budget consumed 17.7% of the City of Regina’s 2017 Operating Budget, an increase from 17.5% in 2016.
Highlights of the 2018 Operating Budget changes include:
· Permanent staffing adjustments for a net increase of 2 civilian positions: Sr. Data Quality & Case Management Specialist and Mechanic.
· Part of the first phase of strategic realignment as a result of the Organizational Review includes the conversion of the Executive Director position to a Corporate Director. The review also identified the conversion of 4 Special Constables to Court Document Clerks.
· The transfer of the Legal Counsel to the Service from the City of Regina.
· The Service in conjunction with our provincial partners will see the establishment of the Provincial Response Team (PRT) and the addition of 5 new funded positions augmented with a redeployment of 5 currently funded positions. The Service is also receiving funding for two positions for the Combined Forces Selective Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) for a net increase of 7 funded positions.
· Permanent staffing adjustments for cost-recovered positions include a decrease in provincial funding for a School Engagement Officer and associated program costs; and a conversion from casual to permanent status of the Victim Services Missing Person Liaison and the RCJC Victim Services Responder, which are funded positions.
· Casual staffing adjustments for a net of -1 include the funded position of a Traffic Clerk for the Red Light Camera program.
· Salary and benefit changes include the full year cost of the 2018 approved positions; salary contingency; step increases for junior employees; and related benefits on these salary changes.
· Decrease of $240,000 in Sasktel Data Centre fees; decrease of $196,600 in City of Regina Legal Counsel fees; decrease of $150,000 due to RCMP not implementing mandatory criminal record check fingerprinting; decrease of $103,700 in Viper Leasing costs now net against revenue payment; and removal of 125th Anniversary expenses.
· $129,000 increase in contracted services; and leasing and parking costs at Broder Street and Crossroads buildings.
· $123,400 increase in utilities, telephone charges and cellular rentals due to the replacement of Blackberry devices.
· $87,200 increase costs related to the Provincial Response Team (PRT) for workstations, phones, computers and fuel. These expenses are full cost recovery from SGI.
· $81,600 increase in education and training for Truth & Reconciliation, Freedom of Information and Leadership in Police Organizations training.
· $60,600 increase for Drug Recognition training and supplies.
· $60,000 increase in radio user fees for portable radio units.
· $36,300 increase for first aid & safety supplies such as replacement of expired NARCAN kits, audio testing, lead mining of firing range.
· $30,000 increase for Traffic Enforcement Overdrive/Intersection Safety programs, radar and laser units and advertising for Gun Amnesty, Bus Cop and Auto Theft.
· $28,000 increase for PST on insurance, meals, phones and construction costs; and
· $19,600 increase in fuel due additional fleet vehicles and geographical footprint of the city.
Revenue Budget
The 2018 Revenue Budget is $9,880,600, an increase of 11.6% over 2017. The Revenue Budget supports 11.1% of the Regina Police Service Gross Operating Budget and funds 72.5 permanent and casual FTE’s. Revenue sources include funding from the provincial government (73.6%), federal government (1.3%) and other revenues (25.1%).
Highlights of the 2018 Revenue Budget changes include:
· Revenue additions from the provincial government under established partnerships include: expansion of the Combined Forces Selective Enforcement Unit for $297,000 Serious Violent Offender program and SGI funded Provincial Response Team for a total of $1,884,200.
· Revenue additions from the provincial government for new funding include: Serious Violent Offender program for $275,000 and SGI funded Provincial Response Team for $1,317,200.
· Revenue decreases from the provincial government under established partnerships include: School Engagement Officer and corresponding TRiP programming cost ($159,200) and offsetting VIPER phone system expenses against the Sask 911 PSAP funding of ($82,700).
· Revenue decreases from other programs include: Civilian Fingerprint Services of ($150,000); and
· Other revenue increases include: Criminal Record Checks increase in fees to $70 for all Vulnerable Sector checks, implementing a volunteer fee resulting in a $75,000 increase, and Communications Technology Unit increase of $24,300.
Capital Budget
The value of the proposed five-year Capital Budget is $21.8 million including $4,970,600 in 2018. Capital financing is provided by the City of Regina and in the recent past has been subsidized by the Police General Reserve. The current balance of the Police General Reserve is $400,930 and can be used to sustain Police operations through any financial circumstances or challenges that may arise. The City of Regina has adopted a minimum $400,000 and a maximum $2,000,000 target balance for the Police General Reserve. The City of Regina is currently conducting a Reserve review and the targeted minimum and maximum balances may change.
The Capital Budget includes five program areas: Facilities Development, Communications, Information Technology, Emergency Services Equipment, and Fleet. The five-year plan includes projects that will enhance Regina Police Service performance and provide the tools to get the job done.
Regina Police Service 2018-2022 Capital Budget (000’s)
Capital program highlights for 2018 include the following:
· $80,000 in Facilities Development for ongoing furniture replacement.
· $297,800 in Communications for software and diagnostic tools.
· $2,545,200 in Information Technology to support infrastructure and business applications. Funding includes ongoing replacement of computer equipment and expenditures for supporting computer infrastructure. Business application funding includes ongoing implementation of video recording in front-line cars, upgrade of video recording of facilities, 3D laser scanner; Smart board for Major Crimes Unit; project development for Business Intelligence Software; CAD upgrade and specialized software to support tactical analysis.
· $750,000 in Emergency Services Equipment to support ongoing upgrades at the Tactical Training Facility; purchase of a Tactical Rescue Vehicle, new bomb suit, drug screening devices, Patrol equipment including enhanced body armour; and
· $1,297,600 in Fleet continues to provide ongoing funding for the regular replacement of marked, unmarked and specialty vehicles; purchase of a collision trailer; and the purchase of vehicles and equipment for the Provincial Response Team (cost recovered).
The community of Regina faces ever-changing and complex crime challenges. The Regina Police Service partners with the community to strengthen the delivery model and provides efficient and effective crime prevention strategies. This has resulted in crime decrease over the years.
RECOMMENDATION IMPLICATIONS
Financial Implications
The Regina Police Service budget will have financial implications for 2018 as outlined in this report.
Environmental Implications
None with respect to this report.
Strategic Implications
The Regina Police Service budget is prepared in conjunction with the Regina Police Service 2015 - 2018 Strategic Plan.
Other Implications
Regina Police Service performance has an impact on the community and its citizens.
The Regina Police Service 2018 budget will be submitted to Regina City Council once the budget has been reviewed and approved by the Board of Police Commissioners.
Respectfully submitted,
BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS
Elaine Gohlke, Secretary