Mayor of Belleville Neil Ellis has asked the Belleville Police Service to reconsider the 2026 BPS budget.
The comment came this afternoon at Belleville City Hall.
“I just want to comment in light of the operating budget of the Belleville Police Service. It was adopted by the board of which I am a member. It had a 15% increase, compared to Council’s mandate of 5%,” he said.
“I said in open session at the police board that the process would be for this to come back to Council, it would come to budget in February and from there Council would have a decision to make whether that is to send it back. Unfortunately, if we wait until February, we’re in a situation that we won’t be able to print tax bills,”
“I spoke to the Chief today and the Chair, I have asked them to reconsider and look at the budget, I want to ensure that it is understood that this is not a comment on the exceptional work of the men and women of the service and the Audit Committee or the Budget Committee, but it’s rather to ensure that affordability for the community we all service is considered to the fullest extent possible,”
Mayor Ellis stated that this doesn’t mean anything will happen, but gives Council an opportunity to fully discuss it at their February budget meeting.
