Proposed 2020 budgets for the City of Sarnia. Photo by Melanie IrwinProposed 2020 budgets for the City of Sarnia. Photo by Melanie Irwin
Sarnia

Staff increases proposed in 2020 city budget

Sarnia council is considering staff increases in 2020, after years of aggressive attrition management.

The city's proposed budget includes a request for four new Sarnia police officers and a net increase of 6.37 full-time equivalent [FTE] city positions.

During a special corporate priorities and strategic planning meeting on Monday, Mayor Mike Bradley said he understands the need for some of the positions, but warned each one has to be "absolutely necessary."

"I've raised the concern that I've raised for many years, that the city is people serving people, and that's where the cost is and there's also a payback in the benefit," said Bradley. "We have not increased the compliment on the Sarnia Police Service probably going back 25 years, which has kept policing costs down, we reached the conclusion as a board, unanimously, that it was time to increase the compliment. That's strategic investment back into the community. Particularly when you're dealing with the opioid crisis and mental health crisis that are out there."

Council heard that the hiring of new city employees would have minimal impact on the tax levy.

Two FTE's would be funded under the transit levy, 3.8 are fully funded with grants or dedicated asset management funding, and all but one are temporary.

"The project management position is a very important one," said Bradley. "If we'd had a project manager, qualified and outside of the city, we would have saved a lot of money on Centennial Park. When we built what is now the PASA [Progressive Auto Sales Arena] Centre, we had a project manager who was independent from us who kept us within budget and on time."

City staff are also recommending a $1 million annual levy be established to fund assets supporting Sarnia's petrochemical industry, like the warning sirens, mobile command centre and Donohue Bridge.

Sarnia's police board approved a 2020 budget Monday that reduced the proposed spending increase from 7.1 to 5.5 per cent.

The service identified savings in benefits estimates and agreed to reduce transfers to reserves and stagger the hiring dates of four new officers.

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