BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS – NOVEMBER 7, 2018
The Board adopted the following resolution:
1. That the 2019 Regina Police Operating and Capital budget, which includes estimated gross operating expenditures of $92,490,100 and revenues of $9,985,800, resulting in a Net Operating Budget of $82,504,300, be approved.
2. That the 2019 Capital Budget of $4,054,000 with funding to be determined by Regina City Council be approved.
3. That an edited version of this report be forwarded to the November 26, 2018 City Council meeting for tabling to the special City Council budget meeting scheduled for
December 10, 2018.
Recommendation #3 do not require City Council approval.
Mayor Michael Fougere (Chairperson) and Councillors: Barbara Young and Joel Murray were present during consideration of this report by the Board of Police Commissioners.
CONCLUSION
The Regina Police Service proposed 2019 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 2019 Operating and Capital Budget is aimed at ensuring Regina Police Service performance, effectiveness and value to the community.
BACKGROUND
The Regina Police Service is presenting its proposed 2019 Operating and Capital Budget to the Board of Police Commissioners. The Board is required to make its budget available to Regina City Council by December 31, 2018.
DISCUSSION
The Regina Police Service works to continuously meet the challenges of an ever-changing environment while providing good value to Regina citizens. The Service strives to 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 2019 - 2022 Strategic Plan is currently in the final stages of review. The process has involved environmental scans, and internal and external consultation with much of the anticipated focus being considered in this budget.
The Regina Police Service financial plans provide the framework for the ongoing and sustained delivery of core policing work and support the strategic initiatives that will be brought forward in the Regina Police Service 2019 - 2022 Strategic Plan.
The 2019 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 2018 Operating and Capital Budget are contained in Appendix A.
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 B.
The work of policing continues to evolve 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. Widespread use of digital media assists with investigations and provides great evidentiary value, however is very resource intensive to maintain and retrieve.
· New marijuana legislation and its impact on impaired driving, police investigative requests and black market.
· LA FOIP legislation request response and policy compliance.
· The demand to communicate better and tell our stories is constant. It must be done carefully and the message must appropriately mitigate risk both internally and externally. Proactive and reactive requests by the Media are constant and the expectations are for immediate information. Video and social media platforms can reach large segments of our community in an effective and efficient manner.
· Provincial and Federal Government legislative and policy changes have impacted the type of calls for service, such as, mental health and addictions.
· Renewed focus on sexual assault and domestic conflict
· Opportunities and momentum on long term collaborative work to ultimately reduce victimization and work on the root causes of crime.
· The growth of the city of Regina footprint and the relationships with newcomers.
· The acquisition of the STC (HQ West) to accommodate the growth of the Regina Police Service.
· Mental health, addictions, domestic conflict and other societal issues; and
· The ever present focus on the wellness of the Regina Police Service employees.
The core organizational structure of the Regina Police Service has remained unchanged for the past 20 years despite growth in both members and programs. 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 were conducted to objectively determine if resources are sufficiently aligned to achieve the police mandate and strategic goals. This review provided a template for growth and realignment over five years. In 2017, twenty officers were redeployed to the patrol front line. The Service feels internal efficiencies and redeployment opportunities that would not negatively affect level or effectiveness of service, have now been depleted. This budget continues to support small incremental growth to align resources with demand.
The guiding principles used in preparing the 2019 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.
· Wellness of our members and balanced workload.
Operating Budget
The 2019 Operating Budget supports cost adjustments to reflect changing internal and external conditions and Strategic Plan initiatives. For 2019, the Regina Police Service proposes a Net Operating Budget of $82,504,300; this includes $92,460,100 in gross operating expenditures and $9,955,800 anticipated revenues. The resulting Net Operating Budget is a $4,515,900 or 5.79% increase over the 2018 budget. This is arrived through an expenditure increase of $4,591,100 and a revenue increase of $75,200. Staffing expenditures support 590 permanent and 10 casual FTE’s and comprises 88.9% of the Gross Operating Budget.
Regina Police Service 2019 Operating Budget
Operational expenses reflect an increase of $755,500 or 7.9% from the 2018 level. The Corp of Commissionaires budget increased by $3,100 or 0.7%.
Highlights of the 2019 Operating Budget changes include:
· Permanent staffing adjustments for a net increase of one police position for the Superintendent Support Services Division.
· Permanent civilian conversion of the Court Document Clerk to the Junior Access & Privacy Officer position.
· Permanent civilian staffing conversion from casual to permanent status for two facility Cleaners positions.
· Casual staffing conversion of Summer Student Program to Digital Media Assistant position.
· Salary and benefit changes include the full year cost of the 2018 approved positions; salary contingency for 2018 and 2019; step increases for junior employees; and related benefits for salary changes.
· $280,000 increase related to Headquarters West (HQ West) operating and maintenance expenses. This new expenditure accounts for 37% of the non-salary budget increase.
· $158,300 increase in Information Technology software and hardware maintenance fees; internet data communication; and decrease in optimized data stick plans.
· $142,400 increase in contracted fuel price and larger geographical footprint of the city.
· $91,100 increase for contracted services such as equipment and vehicle maintenance; leased vehicles; vehicle licenses; and insurance.
· $72,200 increase for investigative case management and oversight, along with source funds for investigations.
· $51,000 increase in utilities; licenses; and janitorial supplies.
· $39,700 increase in education and training regarding Truth & Reconciliation; investigative techniques; Major Case Management; and Critical Incident and Stress Management debriefing.
· $38,700 increase in cellphones; radio earpieces; radios; and radio user fees.
· $21,400 increase for contracted services such as detention meals; veterinarian services; facility rental; Corp of Commissionaires; CISS Analyst fee; memberships; and honorariums.
· $11,500 increase for SWAT team armour supplies and equipment; clothing; and EDU equipment
· Decrease of $65,000 for Blackberry device replacement; $12,800 in one-time expenditures for Provincial Response Team (CTSS); $5,000 for Polygraph machine replacement; $25,000 civilian fingerprint fee; $43,000 Radio System Software Maintenance.
Revenue Budget
The 2019 Revenue Budget is $9,955,800, an increase of 0.76% over 2018. The Revenue Budget supports 10.8% of the Regina Police Service Gross Operating Budget and funds 71.5 permanent and casual FTE’s. Revenue sources include funding from the provincial government (73.2%), federal government (2.6%) and other revenues (24.2%).
Highlights of the 2019 Revenue Budget changes include:
· Revenue additions from the provincial government under established partnerships include the increase in fuel cost recovery for the Provincial Response Team for $11,000.
· Revenue additions from the federal government for new funding include the Secondment for the Drug Recognition Expert program for $138,000.
· Revenue decreases from other programs include: University Liaison Officer ($30,000); Traffic Initiatives of ($27,600); Civilian Fingerprint Services Cost Recovery ($25,000); and Communication Technology Unit ($16,200).
· Other revenue increases include the Special Duty and Public Events for $25,000.
Capital Budget
The value of the proposed five-year Capital Budget is $22.1 million including $4,054,000 in 2019. Capital financing is provided by the City of Regina and in the recent year has been subsidized by SGI and the Police General Reserve. The current balance of the Police General Reserve is $403,429 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 2019-2023 Capital Budget (000’s)
Capital program highlights for 2019 include the following:
· $95,000 in Facilities Development for ongoing furniture replacement and upgrade of video recording of facilities.
· $93,700 in Communications for portable and mobile radios; and equipment.
· $2,666,800 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; enhanced CPIC security; CAD and CAD Map upgrades; Technological Crime forensic tools; and Records Management project.
· $295,500 in Emergency Services Equipment to support ongoing upgrades at the Tactical Training Facility; purchase of tactical vests; gas masks; SWAT equipment upgrades; drug screening devices; and Conducted Energy Weapons (Taser) annual replacement.
· $903,000 in Fleet continues to provide ongoing funding for the regular replacement of marked, unmarked, and specialty vehicles including the new Canine vehicle.
RECOMMENDATION IMPLICATIONS
Financial Implications
The Regina Police Service budget will have financial implications for 2019 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 strategic planning process.
Other Implications
Regina Police Service performance has an impact on the community and its citizens.
COMMUNICATIONS
The Regina Police Service 2019 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