Kawartha Lakes Police looking for over six percent budget increase in 2022

Kawartha Lakes Police looking for over six percent budget increase in 2022

by The Standard | Podcast November 4th, 2021 https://thestandardnewspaper.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KL-Police-need-6-2022-Nov-4th-2021.mp3

DAN CEARNS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard

KAWARTHA LAKES: The Kawartha Lakes Police Service is looking for a funding increase of 6.4 percent in the City of Kawartha Lakes’ 2022 budget.

At a special council meeting, on Tuesday, October 26th, Kawartha Lakes councillors heard from external agencies regarding their requests from the City in the upcoming budget deliberations.

“External Agencies are those agencies [which] are not directly governed by the City of Kawartha Lakes. However, the City funds a portion of their budget,” a report from treasurer Carolyn Daynes explained.

Part of the proposed police funding increase would go towards adding two officers to work at the Central East Correctional Centre.

“As you are well aware, we lost funding from the provincial government on this, but the demand for service is still there,” Police Board chair Don Thomas told members of Council. “What was previously paid, 100 percent by the province, we receive no funding for now.”

The proposed increase also includes $145,700 in building maintenance, an addition of two new uniform officers for their Community Response Unit and adding new part-time communications staff members.

Chief Mark Mitchell acknowledged this increase is “a big ask” but stressed this is “not a decision [they] took lightly and not a number [they] arrived at arbitrarily.”

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