The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 12 ,2 01 9 | 2 ENJOY THE SOUNDS OF THE SEASON Come in and have your complimentary hearing consultation today! 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 Georgetown (In the Knolcrest Centre) 905.877.8828 Georgetown's trusted choice for hearing care New OptOmetry Office in DOwntOwn GeOrGetOwn Dr. Ben Giddens Dr. Andrea Kozma Dr. Stephanie Britton has opened a 2nd location at the mill Street medical centre. DOwntOwn GeOrGetOwn 83 mill St | 905 873 1867 metrO plaza 371 mountainview rd S | 905 873 1861 family eye care ServiceS Day, Evening and Saturday Hours | Same day appointments for urgent eye care. Please phone. GIDDENS OPTOMETRY Hockey & Baseball Collectibles Discover Holiday Gift Treasures! Closed Mon. & Tues.49A Mountainview Rd N, Georgetown (just south of Armstrong) 905-877-6508 come to your guidelines," Oakville mayor, Rob Bur- ton, chair of Halton Re- gional Police Services Board, said to the regional council on Dec. 4. "It isn't our fault, provincial down- loading is back and the big shift from sales and income tax to property tax is well underway." Of Halton Region's pro- posed 2020 budget of $560 million, Burton said the po- lice service would need $162 million. "We have absorbed pro- vincial cuts and failures to continue to fund pro- grams," Burton said. "We fear more is on the way." Overall, the HRPS bud- get proposed includes an increase of $6.6 million or 4.2 per cent over the 2019 budget, which exceeds the 3.7 per cent guideline pro- vided by Regional Council. However, with the ask of a $6.6 million increase, the budget's largest area of increase is to staffing in the same amount. Contract-related com- pensation would cost $3.3 million in 2020 while new hires will account for $2.1 million, adding 19 sworn police officers and five ci- vilian staff, for a total of 737 sworn in officers and 307.5 staff in 2020. Increases in benefit costs would ac- count for the remaining $1.2 million. The increase in budget also came from a number of pressures according HRPS Chief, Stephen Tan- ner. One of those pressures is Maplehurst Correction- al Facility. Tanner told council three officers were as- signed full-time at the pris- on and received $400,000 from the province annual- ly. "The Minister of Com- munity Safety and Correc- tional Services, Sylvia Jones, arbitrarily decided to end that relationship and funding effective Dec. 31," Tanner said, adding that the region would be re- sponsible for the funding. "I estimate we spent $1.4 million or $1.5 million per year doing police work at Maplehurst," Tanner said. The correctional facility is responsible for roughly one-third of assault occur- rences in Halton Region, the police also handle sui- cides, assaults, attempted murders and manslaugh- ter charges at the prison. "Those investigations are massive," Tanner said. "And for $400,000, that's great value." The police budget was to be considered at regional council yesterday (Dec. 11). COUNCIL Continued from page 1 NUMBER OF REASONS FOR BUDGET INCREASE, SAYS HRPS CHIEF THE ISSUE: HALTON'S POLICE BUDGET LOCAL IMPACT: DOWNLOADING FROM THE PROVINCE MEANS REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS ARE ON THE HOOK FOR POLICE SERVICES ONCE PAID FOR BY THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT STORY BEHIND THE STORY While regional council has been finalizing the 2020 budget for Halton Region, Halton Regional Police Service has had to ask above their target budget to account for provincial downloading and growth. Halton police are proposing a higher budget for next year. Torstar file photo