City Council votes in favour of Edmonton police funding formula

City Council has voted to approve a funding formula for the Edmonton Police Service.

The decision was made after a day-long meeting on Wednesday, with Councillors Michael Janz, Ashley Salvador, Erin Rutherford, and Anne Stevenson voting against the motion.

The Edmonton Police Commission (EPC) was pushing for approval of the four-year funding formula that was presented last year. It takes into account inflation and population growth.

The formula will also tie the police budget to the growth of every other city department to prevent constant funding increases for it.

The formula will be in place until at least 2026, when council will re-examine it.

There will also be a check-in in 2025.

When the formula was presented last year, council put the decision off until this year in order to fine-tune it.

The city previously had a funding formula in place for police until it was suspended in summer 2020, when questions about police accountability were being asked worldwide in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

Since 2020, the police budget has still grown each year despite council clawing back more than $20 million that had been promised for it.

"What they were told they were going to have to spend, what they were told to plan on, has been arbitrarily cut with not a lot of time to adjust. That happened in 2021, it happened again in 2022," said Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell before the vote.

"So from that perspective, I would rather see us indicate very clearly what the budgets are going to be each year."

Many councillors see a benefit of a funding formula but were looking for more details.

"I hear from Edmontonians saying 'We would like you to give more money to the police to hire more police officers.' So then I'm asking the commission, 'If we give you more money, how many new police officers will you hire?' And between all the answers we got today, I still can’t give you a solid number on what that is," Janz, who represents Ward papastew, said before the vote.

Others were concerned that more money for police wouldn't lead to a safer city.

"The situation’s getting worse. Where's the accountability for improvements? Do police prevent harm and keep people safe? I can think of several high profile incidents in the ward that I represent that have not been mitigated by more police funding," said Coun. Rutherford, who voted against the proposal.

The EPC says it's pleased by council's decision.

"The funding formula ensures police services are available to the citizens of Edmonton when they are needed," chair Erick Ambtman said in a written statement."By having population growth and non-personnel inflation included, Council has ensured that services are not eroded or reduced as the population increases and more people call Edmonton their home.

"The funding formula provides certainty and predictability in police funding to allow for long-term planning of resources within the Edmonton Police Service to improve safety across the city."

Policing represents the city's largest annual expense — about 30 per cent of the annual budget.

In 2023, EPS received about $415 million from the city.

Under the approved funding formula, EPS will receive about $10 million more in 2024. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson