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THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE HAS APPEARED IN THE RECORD ON July 19, 2002

What will happen to Brome Lake surplus?


It is little wonder why the projected Brome Lake police budget surplus has been the focus of some grumbling. After a prolonged and heated debate over the appropriate police coverage, property taxes were increased by 17 cents per $100 of evaluation to cover a Level I municipal police force that was scrapped before it was even set up. By July 2, when the second tax installment becomes due, close to $1.5 million worth of property taxes will have been collected for that specific purpose.

By effectively doubling last year's police budget of $777,000, the extra money was supposed to be spent on increasing the size of the six-person police force to 12 officers, buying new equipment and investing in a new police station. What will happen to surplus?

Now that the Brome Lake council has completed an about-face in favor of the SQ police option, questions are naturally being asked about what will happen to the police budget surplus. For some property owners, a tax rebate is the only logical and equitable solution. Councilor Robin Moore did little to appease their concerns when he declared in a recent interview with the Record, " Any money we saved earlier this year by not keeping a municipal police force has been spent on other things." He then implied that the surplus could be utilized in next year's budget to cover Brome Lake's extensive road repairs. As for Mayor Stanley Neil, any money left over will be reflected in next year's budget.

Another alternative would be to cut next year's taxes, which would essentially amount to rebating the surplus. Seeing that the TBL police officers are only expected to shed their uniforms by mid-September in favor of the standard green attire worn by the SQ, many residents expect a large surplus. Surplus could be close to $309,584

In fact, according to my rudimentary calculations, by Dec. 31 the surplus should be close to $309,584 or 23 per cent of next year's $1.3 million police budget. I came to that amount by simply deducting all the current year's police costs from the $1.5 million budget. At the risk of drowning you with numbers, last year's police budget was approximately $777,000 per year or $64,750 per month. On that basis alone, this year's price tag should amount to $615,125 by the time the SQ takes over on Sept. 15. Since the town hired two additional police officers in April their salaries must also be factored in. Assuming they earn the base salary of $35,000 the cost to the town for six-and-a-half months should be less than $40,000. So as not to appear penny pinching I've added another $50,000 for equipment purchased by our police during the current year.

Just in case overtime wasn't included in the $777,000 "budget" and I don't know why it wouldn't be, I've tacked on another $80,000. As for the SQ costs from Sept. 15 to Dec.31, we were informed last year that the SQ option would cost $1.3 per year or $108,333 per month. If the projected costs don't change, this should entail $379,166 for the last three-and-a-half months in 2002. The town currently pays the SQ $33,000 per year to handle criminal investigations and therefore, up to Sept. 15, this should involve an additional amount of $26,125. Even if I underestimated the costs by $100,000 that would still leave us with a $209,000 surplus, which is nothing to scoff at. If, on the other hand I overestimated the costs by the same amount, the surplus would climb to the walloping amount of $409,000. Naturally, the longer it takes for the SQ to take over, the larger the surplus.

Easy to obtain accurate figures

As for any TBL resident who may be concerned over the uncertainties surrounding the police tax surplus, it shouldn't be too difficult to keep a close track of the actual amount. Above and beyond the principles of accountability that govern our elected officials and town administrators, the Cities and Towns Act imposes a number of legal duties, which also serve as reliable checks and balances.

Legal duties of treasurer

The Act obliges every town to have a treasurer, who acts as "the collector and depositary of all the moneys of the municipality". Subject to all other legal provisions, the treasurer must deposit "in a legally constituted bank savings and credit union or trust company designated by the council, the monies arising from municipal taxes or dues, and all other monies belonging to the municipality, and shall allow them to remain there until they are employed for the purposes for which they were levied, or until disposed of by the council." By law, the treasurer is obliged to keep books of account in a prescribed form in "which he must enter, by order of date, the receipts and expenditures, mentioning the persons who have paid monies into his hands or to whom he has made a payment."

Council may at any time demand detailed account

Just in case any councilor pleads ignorance as to the evolving status of the surplus despite the fact that all it takes is a phone call to the town administrators, the Act provides them with all of the means to be fully informed. Every three months the treasurer must transmit to council a statement of the revenues and expenditures of the municipality from the beginning of the fiscal year. Finally, council has the right to call upon the treasurer, at any time during the year, to produce a detailed account of the revenues and expenditures of the municipality. At the end of the fiscal year, not only must the treasurer draw up the financial report for the past fiscal year and attest that it is accurate, the town's auditor must "audit the financial statements, the statement fixing the aggregate taxation rate and..... "

Last but not least, the Act provides that the books of accounts of the treasurer may be inspected during regular working hours by any person applying to do so. So where does this leave any concerned resident regarding the question of the projected police budgetary surplus? By any objective standard, it is simply a question of asking his or her councilor the right questions and expressing a preference. While TBL council may have the power to divert the use of the surplus to other unrelated expenditures - it remains accountable, both politically and legally, for any such decision. Besides, with elections just around the corner, the TBL residents are in the driver's seat.