Cobourg Police get 20.5 percent budget increase
File photo
By: Dan Jones, Northumberland 89.7 FM News, Local Journalism Initiative.
The Cobourg Police will be getting its full ask for operations in 2026, but how it will be funded was hotly debated.
Mayor Lucas Cleveland’s proposed budget would see approximately $1.2 million funded through the Police Service’s reserves, depleting that total to around $460,000. This method would only add 1.7 percent to the town levy.
However, Police Board Chair and Councillor Adam Bureau requested the entire $1.2 million be shifted to the tax levy, bumping taxes from 2.7 percent to 6.08 percent.
He contends that this would be the corrective budget for 2026, effectively returning to five percent in 2027. Bureau’s amendment to the budget was defeated 4-2 with Cleveland abstaining.
Councillor Aaron Burchat then proposed splitting the reserves in half, moving $600,000 to the tax levy. This would increase taxes from 2.7 percent to 4.52 percent. Burchat’s motion would see the other $600,000 moved to next year. His motion was approved 5-2 with Cleveland and Councillor Randy Barber voting no.
Following a 30 minute morning break, Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf fielded Council questions.
“20.5 percent is the natural increase. This is the correction budget. There is nothing new in this budget,” VandeGraaf said.
Cleveland took issue, accusing the Police Board of not saying no to VandeGraaf or having little pushback on certain budget requests. He wanted the police reserves to fund this year, essentially moving major funding decisions to next year, when there will be a new council, Police Chief and Police Board. He remarked that over the past four years, the police budget has drawn approximately $9.8 million from the Town’s business funds.
“It moves it down the line hopefully to a Board that is going to be willing to actually push back on Chief’s and staff’s requests,” explained Cleveland.
Cleveland opened the meeting stating that Cobourg is at a crossroads where taxes keep going up, but the affordability crisis remains a high priority for the public. He said that he would not use his Strong Mayor Power veto to override the will of Council, opting to allow them to decide the final outcome of the budget.
Councillors asked questions, as Randy Darling and Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty suggested there needs to be a greater discussion on levels of services and what Cobourg provides. A few of the recommendations contained in the Community-Leg Budget Task Force, which was released earlier this month are contained in the proposed 2026 budget. However, Cleveland explained that the majority of the recommendations should be dealt with by future municipal governments.
