A $2.5-million deficit for the Windsor Police Service halfway through the year.
A second-quarter variance projection as of May 31, 2025, showed that the police service will experience a $2,575,000 deficit by the end of 2025 -- or a two per cent budget deficit.
$575,000 of that deficit was due to a reduction in grants and subsidies, while $2-million was due to salaries and benefits. Over $1-million of that $2-million was due to overtime pay alone.
Much of the overtime recorded comes from a number of protests held throughout the city that Windsor Police staff for to ensure public safety, as well as a number of calls to assist with mental health situations.
An update was provided during the Windsor Police Services Board Meeting where mitigation efforts were spoken about to reroute this deficit before December, such as pulling officers from other duties to help staff these incidents, and looking for provincial grants.
Board chair and ward 6 councillor, Jo-Anne Gignac, says there isn't a lot of funding for police entities to deal with additional responsibilities surrounding mental health.
"Tracking those costs a little more accurately in terms of what percentage of your budget goes for issues that municipal police forces were never identified as being responsible for, we have an opportunity to be able to approach our partners and say 'listen, this is getting to the point where we need sustainable, reliable funding'."
She says there are consistent protests held in the city.
"As a result of those things I think becoming so publicly visible, we've experienced a number of others. It's a growing city concern, and a diverse city concern."
Gignac says looking at comparator costs to the Ontario Provincial Police did not go as expected due to the rising costs.
"Municipalities that have OPP policing choose the services that they're going to pay for. There's a vast difference between the City of Windsor's municipal police force and what we are doing everyday in terms of response with whether that be dog teams, specialized drug teams."
The Windsor Police Service was allotted $111-million for the 2025 budget, which was 22 per cent of the municipal tax levy for the year.
The service also recorded a nearly $3.8-million deficit for 2024, a $72,000 deficit for 2023, and a surplus of $620,000 for 2023.