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Cornwall didn't budget for some retired police officers' benefits

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A budget error by the City of Cornwall has led to a variance of over $200,000 in the Cornwall Police Service’s 2022 budget.

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Cornwall Police Chief Shawna Spowart spoke to the error when she presented the third-quarter budget report to the police services board on Nov. 3.

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“The line that is concerning… is the benefits line sitting at 79.78 per cent. As you can see it’s a fairly large budget line… I have been questioning that line since the first-quarter financial statement and was advised that it had to do with (Canada Pension Plan) and (Employment Insurance) and how it is paid out up front,” Spowart said, explaining the actual reason wasn’t that at all. “But as the year has continued, I have continued to see that number grow, and continued to ask questions. What we confirmed is the city did not appropriately budget for a number of retirees.”

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Spowart said a number of people retired at the end of 2021, and they were mistakenly removed from the system prior to budgeting, not accounting for the fact they are still entitled to receive benefits. As of September, $3,592,911 had been spent of the budgeted $4,503,602 regarding benefits, showing a budget line trending at $215,000 over where it should have been after nine months.

“There’s really nothing I can do about that particular line item. It will continue to grow. I hope to be able to manage the overall budget to keep it (as low as possible),” she said.

Cornwall Mayor Glen Grant asked if this will be corrected for next year and Spowart said it has already been identified for the 2023 budget. Post-retirement benefits are negotiated as part of the police service’s contracts with its employees, and the police service budgets for these based on the number of known and expected retirees who are eligible. Cornwall’s financial services department prepares the police budget, but missed this calculation for 2022.

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In terms of other budget lines, Spowart said salaries were trending under budget as of September, with full-time at 74.25 per cent, or $10,344,362 of the budgeted $13,932,467 spent, and part-time at 72.6 per cent, or $599,016 of the budgeted $770,004 spent. While overtime for September was sitting at 123 per cent, due to officers’ involvement with the Freedom Convoy protest and initiatives like Project Antagonist, Spowart said much of these costs were balanced through grants received.

Deputy Chief Vincent Foy also shared the third quarter professional standards report during the meeting.

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He explained there were five new conduct complaints. Four were deemed not to be of public interest and one was deemed to be outside of CPS jurisdiction, so they were not investigated.

“In terms of internal complaints, or chief’s complaints, into potential misconduct, we have one new complaint. It was initiated and that matter is still under investigation,” said Foy.

Two chief’s complaints are currently under investigation. That would include the investigation initiated after an arrest on July 14, where an 18-second clip was posted to Facebook showing Sgt. Dave MacLean restraining an individual while taking them into custody. Officers had responded to a call from the Shoppers Drug Mart at the Eastcourt Mall, and the person in the video was later charged with robbery with violence, and two counts of theft under $5,000.

There were no complaints made to the Special Investigations Unit or Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, and six complaints were resolved by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD). 

“We are trending about the same from the previous year, about the total conduct complaints,” said Foy.

shoneill@postmedia.com

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