Saskatoon police service posts year-end financial results

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The Saskatoon Police Service posted a small surplus in 2023, according to a year-end financial report to be presented this week to the city’s board of police commissioners.

The SPS ended up using $113,429,176 of its budgeted $113,724,100 for the year, according to the report. The $294,900 surplus amounts to a 0.26 per cent variance from the budget, with the surplus funds set to be returned to the City of Saskatoon.

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The police service’s revenues came in almost five per cent higher than budgeted, or about $628,000, while spending was $333,400 over budget.

On the revenue side, police reported that the province provided just under $10 million, or about $360,000 higher than originally budgeted. Most of the additional money was tied to the province funding an additional officer for the Police And Crisis Team (PACT) unit, which sees police accompany a mental-health social worker to respond to calls related to mental health and addictions. The remainder of the extra money was tied to a general increase from the province to offset inflation.

The extra unbudgeted revenue also included $110,000 from the federal government for an officer working as a trainer for drug recognition experts.

The $158,000 SPS received to reimburse the salary of then-Supt. Patrick Nogier was also counted as revenue. Nogier was still technically on the SPS payroll when he moved from heading up the criminal investigation division to serve as interim chief of the Prince Albert Police Service. Nogier was subsequently hired as Prince Albert’s permanent chief of police.

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On the expenditure side of the ledger, SPS staff compensation costs came in just more than $1.6 million over budget, with almost all of this attributable to overtime.

Most of the overtime expense — about 65 per cent, or $1,040,000 — was related to what’s known as “call out,” which the report states typically occurs when patrol officers are required to “support activities beyond currently available resources,” or when members of the service’s criminal investigation division have to attend “complex” investigations.

Callout overtime can also cover uses of the police service’s specialized tactical support and public safety units, which are made up of officers who mainly work in other divisions. Tactical support (colloquially known as the SWAT team) typically responds to situations involving weapons, while the public safety unit helps control large crowds.

While overtime was over-budget, police spent almost $1.3 million less than expected on expenses not related to staff compensation. This includes $255,400 saved on travel and training and fuel costs coming in $229,600 lower than expected.

Along with the small operating surplus, SPS reported that it completed 19 capital projects in 2023, for a total of just over $2.4 million, with all projects completed within budget and just over $70,000 returned to SPS reserve funds.

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