A group of city councillors are calling on the city to look into ways to help fill a multi-million dollar funding gap in the Calgary Police Service budget, following a provincial decision to claw back the use of photo radar.
An urgent motion from Couns. Sonya Sharp, Terry Wong, Jennifer Wyness and Andre Chabot was endorsed at committee Tuesday and will now go to city council later this month.
It follows revelations the Calgary Police Service is facing a $28 million budget shortfall in 2025 and years to come, which the service is attributing to a loss of ticket revenue from incoming restrictions on photo radar.
The motion asks city administration to support the Calgary Police Commission with funding options to help close the gap.
“We really need to send a signal to the province saying sometimes when you make gestures and remove things that you think are minor, it actually has a big impact on safety for Calgarians,” Sharp told reporters. ”
The move would also asks administration for a report on potential speed and traffic calming measures, including annual costs and comparisons to photo radar effectiveness.
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Calgary Police Service facing multimillion-dollar budget shortfall
It also asks city administration to advocate to the Government of Alberta for additional photo radar locations “in high collision areas as exemptions to their restrictions.”
“There is still hope the province can reverse their decision,” Wyness said. “I think if they looked at the news and saw the number of fatalities that we’re seeing in the city of Calgary; that should be enough data.”
The new provincial rules, announced in December, limits the use of photo radar to just school, playground and construction zones; reducing the number of sites where photo-radar could be used from 2,000 to 650 province-wide.
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Alberta limiting photo radar; Calgary police chief calls it ‘collective disappointment’
On Friday, Calgary police chief Mark Neufeld said there are efforts to reduce costs — including a pause on hiring for civilian positions, and limit overtime spending; a $13 million cost in 2024.
According to John Orr, president of the Calgary Police Association, ticket revenue having such an impact on a police budget “is wrong.”
“The police budget should be funded to provide policing services, it should not be dependent on enforcement,” Orr told Global News.
The province shares 40 per cent of its fine revenue with municipalities and city council has traditionally used that funding to reduce the amount of property tax revenue needed to pay for the service, according to the Calgary Police Commission.
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The police budget includes an estimate of how much fine revenue it is likely to receive each year, based on previous years; 2024 saw $15 million less than expected in shared fine revenue.
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Public safety is top of mind during budget talks at Calgary City Hall
The Calgary Police Commission said it knew the province’s photo radar changes would “significantly increase” the shortfall in 2025.
Another initiative in the councillors’ motion is to look at reforming police funding by helping commission cut ties between fine revenue and the police budget.
“Our Commission also believes that traffic enforcement should only be used to promote public safety, and a year ago we adopted the position that fine revenue should be removed from future police budgets to ensure that safety remains the only focus of enforcement activities,” the commission said in a statement.
“We look forward to working with council to try achieve this goal as well.”
The provincial government said there will be engagement with municipalities and law enforcement in the coming weeks to finalize the new photo radar guidelines, which are set to come into effect on April 1.
“These discussions will help ensure automated enforcement is used appropriately, with a clear focus on improving road safety rather than generating revenue,” said a spokesperson for the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services.
There’s concern it could mean a jump on Calgarians’ property tax bills next year, according to Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who said the funding gap is equivalent to six per cent of the police service’s budget.
“The provincial government has defunded our police service,” Gondek said.
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