Greg Price

Apparently, when it came to my last column talking about police budgets, I was comparing apples with oranges.
To recap, I wrote a column about the dangerous practice of balancing police budgets based on fine revenue, and even though my percentage increase projected for 2012 compared to 2011 may have been off, I still stand by that assertion.
Of the $386,500 in fine revenue projected for 2012, there was a $96,000 in/out expense that was put in for bookkeeping purposes, apparently. That still amounts to $290,500 in actual projected fine revenue for 2012, compared to the figure of $210,000 in 2011, as noted in the Costing Center Summary as submitted to town council at its Nov. 14 meeting. That is still a big jump of 38 per cent in expected fine revenue, even though the police department only collected fine revenue from photo radar 11 of the 12 months in 2011. OK, one month out of 12 accounts for eight per cent of the year, so let us take that figure into being included for the 2012 year and knock it off the projected increase, and you still have 30 per cent.
But wait again, that 2011 number is only a projected number for projected budgets, and actual fine revenue has been higher. According to the police commission meeting from Nov. 16, actual fine revenue has been $249,084.75 as of Oct. 31, compared to the $210,000 that was originally budgeted for the whole year. Let us say for argument sake that fine revenue was equal in each month... that would then be roughly $25,000 a month up until October, so an extra $50,000 you would factor in for November and December in 2011 combined, if the figures hold true based on average. The extra $50,000 added onto $249,084.75 confirmed fine revenue as of Oct. 31 would total $300,000 approximately in fine revenue, compared to the $210,000 than was originally budgeted for 2011.
So that 84.05 per cent increase in fine revenue that you see on the package projected for 2012 that was submitted to town council, was then lowered to 30 per cent when you take out the $96,000 in/out expense.
When you add an extra month in for fine revenue that was not collected in 2011, it goes even lower. That has now turned into an expected 3.2 per cent decrease in expected fine revenue, when you compare the actual $300,000 collected in 2011 (if month by month averages hold true for November and December) and $290,500 projected for 2012. Confusing, isn’t it?
If the Town of Taber police knew it had already exceeded projected fine revenues for 2011 in only 10/12ths of the year as of Oct. 31, why was that not presented in budget discussions? If you want to compare apples with apples, then give the most updated information you have, so apples are compared with apples. Meeting a police budget with a zero-per-cent increase in cost, yet drawing 3.2 per cent less in fine revenue (projected with the unknown of November and December fine revenue) should be commended by a diligent fiscal police force with the Taber Police Service, as police forces look to stretch their available dollars across the province.
But if it is the hope that streets are safer with fewer speeders and distracted drivers out there through learned behaviour with the awareness of photo radar and distracted driver legislation, it is simply a one-time reprieve if fine revenues continue to go down, as total expenditures increase by seven per cent, as noted in the Costing Center Summary given to town council, could become the norm in future years.
And there again you are in the same boat where you are balancing budgets on the unknown of how much fine revenue you are going to take in.
The column was never a swipe at the job the Town of Taber police do. The very notion of photo radar allows the Taber Police Service to free up its time for other other matters, and those other matters they deal with are very big and important issues of public safety, so it is certainly a plus that way.
I know many people in the ranks and know how seriously they take the safety of the citizenry, in which they do a very good job. But it still doesn’t take the White Elephant out of the room that no one wants to talk about. If learned, responsible driving behaviour lessens your fine revenue, that helps offset costs of increases in policing that happen year after year. It is a concern voiced by police services across the province.
You either increase taxes, write more tickets involving other types of driving infractions, which takes officers away from their time on the street for Criminal Code offences, continually increase the cost of tickets year by year if the number of tickets stay the same or lessen, or you let police officers go or cut salaries.
Each option has its hardships with its negatives, and they all have ramifications on how effectively the Taber Police Service can do their job.
Maybe the answer is increased police funding from Premier Redford... I don’t know the answer.
I just prefer the idea the Taber Police Service should be as autonomous as it can be in doing what is an already hard job in their daily duties, and not be hamstrung by projected budgets with fine revenue. And it is naive to think with a town budget in which major infrastructure projects are being pushed back, yet taxes are increasing, that everyone’s budget isn’t being closely examined with pressure on everybody.
And it is going to come to blows either through increased taxes, increased emphasis on fine revenue generation or possibly less officers on the street down the line.
Current trends simply can’t hold unless some help is on the way provincially or federally, and some tough questions are going to have to be asked.