‘Higher than anticipated' salary settlement causing pressure on Saskatoon police budget

CTV News

3 days ago

Saskatoon's police chief says an arbitrator's decision over a new collective agreement is raising officers' salaries and putting pressure on the service's budget.
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) Chief Cam McBride said a settlement finalized last December for backpay is largely the reason for a 10.4 per cent increase to its 2026 budget being presented to Saskatoon City Council.
'It was higher than we anticipated,' McBride said. 'Looking at the financial pressure over the course of the contract, we were able to absorb that within savings for 2025.'
But an additional $4.7 million that can't be covered by the SPS stabilization fund is needed to carry forward to the 2026 budget, he says.
With a new contract set for Jan. 1, 2026, McBridge says the service needed to factor in additional salary increases and large call volumes in its 2027 ask to council.
'When you look at the significant increase, it's predominantly making up for contract settlements from previous years,' McBride said.
A financial forecast released by city administration on Wednesday warned of property tax increases of 9.9 per cent in 2026, and 7.34 per cent in 2027.
Police account for nearly 22 per cent of all spending at City Hall — the highest of any expenditure. The 2025 budget totaled $141.4 million when approved last December.
Next year, initial estimates provided to administration outline an increase of $13.6 million, or 10.42 per cent. In 2027, the police budget is expected to grow by another $9.2 million, or 6.41 per cent.
By these estimates, Saskatoon's police budget would account for a 4.09 per cent increase to property taxes alone next year.
The arbitration award last December came out just days after city council finalized the SPS budget.
On Thursday, McBride made the case for his team. He said police can't ignore the growing number of calls for service after roughly 30,000 people moved to Saskatoon in the last two years.
While he said the growth in its budget is 'very responsible,' it won't leave the city or community safety vulnerable.
'We're doing the very best we can to manage through a difficult year,' he said. 'But certainly, our growth plans remain solid, and our commitment to the City of Saskatoon remains solid.'
Work to reduce the potential property tax hike has already begun for city council.
Mayor Cynthia Block says council could vote through a zero per cent property tax increase, but it would come at the cost of police or core services. She said she doesn't want to make the mistake other cities do when it comes to reducing budgets by 'kicking the can down the road' and would rather keep up with best practices when it comes to roadways or sidewalks and maintain existing funding, so Saskatoon doesn't fall behind.
'I don't know, these are the important conversations that we're going to have to have over the coming months to try to bring this in line with what people can afford, and I guess what we might be willing to give up,' Block said.
Administration is recommending a city committee refine the budget to reduce the proposed property tax rate increases by 1 percentage point when it meets next week. To do so, the city would need to find savings of $3.31 million in the 2026 budget.
A city report said this could be accomplished by adjusting proposed phase-ins for projects like fire halls and a new leisure centre previously approved by council.
All budget numbers are estimates and are subject to change ahead of budget deliberations in November.