By Dan Jones LJI
Northumberland 89.7 FM
The shock of a proposed 20.5 percent increase to the Cobourg Police Services budget is starting to settle in, Chief Paul VandeGraaf told Cobourg council Monday, adding there is no room to cut, with zero discretionary funding.
He said costs across the board, from wages and benefits, new equipment, training, and court administration, are pushing up expenditures.
That, coupled with previous police budgets that appeared to underestimate the true cost of policing, explains the significant increase.
If passed, the Cobourg budget would balloon by nearly five percent.
If council declines the police budget, the process would move to provincial conciliation or arbitration to resolve the impasse.
Originally aired: December 2, 2025
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