The Sarnia Police Services Board will consider its options on Thursday to manage the 2024 budget cut delivered by Sarnia council.
Chair Paul Wiersma said obviously the board would have preferred to have the full budget request approved.
"We accept the decision of council," said Wiersma. "We understand that councillors have to make decisions and weigh all of the various fiscal pressures and we know that the police [budget] is a significant part of the budget. We put our request forward and, at the end of the day, council has to decide what is in the best interest of the community."
The police service started out with a 17.2 per cent increase in its budgetary ask, but eventually trimmed it down to just below 10 percent. The $33.4 million document for 2024, represented an increase of 9.98 per cent over 2023.
"We were able to get most of the operational budget approved. We did have a cut in the reserves of $450,000 and an additional $25,000 cut. But, I think we're in a pretty good place," Wiersma said.
Ultimately, he said the board will decide how to move forward.
"Whether they would want to proceed with a revised budget that incorporates the cut from city council, or whether they want to take leave to apply to the civilian police commission, which they can do if they want to appeal the decision," said Wiersma.
He said a recommendation on which option to consider has not been made.
