MEMORANDUM
DATE: February 27, 2023 Report No. ADM-23-007
TO: Council
FROM: Dan Horan, Chief Administrative Officer
SUBJECT:
Title
Council Budget Discussion - Victoria Police Department 2023 Budget
End
INFORMATION:
The Township’s initial budget meetings for Council are expected to occur in March. The draft budget will be presented for consideration on March 6, 2023. Following that, two Special Council meetings are scheduled for March 14 and March 15, where the 2023-2027 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budget Requests will be reviewed.
The policing portion of the Township’s budget has a slightly different review and governance process. The police budget is developed by the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board and was first presented at the joint Board/Councils meeting on January 17, 2023. A follow-up presentation to Council occurred on February 6, 2023. The City of Victoria Council has also been presented the proposed policing budget and is currently assessing it as part of their governance process.
Unless otherwise directed, staff will use the information provided by the Police Board to develop the Esquimalt operating budget. This year, the proposed increases to the VicPD budget will be included in the summary of the Township’s 2023-2027 Supplemental Operating requests. As the review and governance process for the police budget involves two separate Councils and the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board, the proposed budget is being brought forward for discussion at this time. The goal of this discussion is for Council to signal its intentions regarding potential approval of the core police budget and additional resource requests. Based on direction given, staff will then take any necessary action prior to further budget discussions in March.